Celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day Every Year on January 18
Background image by Leon2137 @ Deviant Art
Today’s the day to fill the rumbly in your tumbly with hunny!
Why, you ask?
Because it’s Winnie the Pooh Day, of course.
We celebrate Pooh Bear on the day his creator, Allan Alexander (A.A.) Milne, was born: January 18, 1882.
Winnie the Pooh was a teddy bear who lived in the Hundred Acre Wood with his friends, including Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and Roo. These characters were based on stuffed animals the author’s son had.
The bear’s name combines the names of a black bear at the London Zoo (Winnie) and a swan the family met on holiday (Pooh). The Hundred Acre Wood is actually Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest (in Sussex, England).
Their human friend, Christopher Robin, was based on the author’s son. Also named Christopher Robin.
Winnie the Pooh isn’t the brightest bear (having a head full of fluff will do that to you!). But he’s loyal, kindhearted and does have some common sense that leads to occasional clever ideas.
He looks out for his friends, including the gloomy Eeyore, and wants them all to be happy.
What a good bear!
He certainly deserves a day of his own.
Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this sweet, unofficial holiday for the bear with little brain.
Celebrating Winnie the Pooh Day
So what can you do to celebrate this delightful and silly bear?
If you have children you will, of course, want to celebrate with them. But even if you don’t, celebrate anyway. You’re never too old for Pooh!
In fact, Milne wrote the Pooh stories to appeal to the child within everyone, not for children specifically. So let your inner child enjoy this day.
- Read the stories of Pooh and his friends.
- Watch the Disney movies. Sing along with the songs.
- Check out some of The Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, like Honey Song:
(Find more mini adventures on YouTube )
- Cuddle up with a Pooh toy (or any of his friends) while reading or watching.
- Dress the kids up as Pooh and his friends (depending on how many kids you have, of course).
- Let the kids draw or paint their favorite Pooh characters.
- Have a picnic in a nearby forest preserve (your very own Hundred Acre Wood). Include honey, of course.
- Stage your very own game of poohsticks (and did you know there’s a World Pooh Sticks Championship?).
- If you happen to be near East Sussex, visit Pooh Corner (a fun side trip any day of the year!).
- If you’re not anywhere near England (which is probably most of us!), you can still take a virtual tour of Pooh Country.
- Learn more about the magical world of Pooh and his friends over at Just-Pooh.com
Whatever you do, just have fun.
Do you have any other ideas for celebrating Winnie the Pooh Day?
[…] National Winnie the Pooh Day: Celebrate the bear with little brain on his creator’s birthday. So read some Pooh stories or watch a movie. Or just try to be a bit more like this silly bear: kindhearted and loyal. Hmmm … sounds like he may not be nearly as silly or brainless as he thinks. […]