If there isn’t a service available in your area, kits are sometimes available that will allow you to prepare your own stuffed animal party.

If you do not want to have a stuffed animal party where the children actually assemble the stuffed animal there, you might still purchase a stuffed animal for each child at the party and let the stuffed animals join right in with the party.  A fun idea is to wrap each stuffed animal in brightly colored paper and let each child draw a number from a box to see who chooses his stuffed animal first.  Then let the child choose a stuffed animal from the group of packages. Be sure to include a variety of kinds of stuffed animals.

We thought that it would be fun to have visitors share about their childhood stuffed animal.  Maybe it was a special teddy bear that was so well loved that the eyes, nose and fur all fell off or maybe it was a different type of stuffed animal.  Do you still have the animal in the closet somewhere or what happened to it?  Tell us about your childhood stuffed animals by leaving a comment!

My childhood stuffed animal was……

Choose stuffed animals with eyes that are age appropriate

Eyes for stuffed animals can be important. Stuffed animals that are given to younger children should have very secure eyes and noses for safety reasons.

When choosing stuffed animals for an infant or small child, embrodieried eyes are the safest choice since they cannot be dislodged from the stuffed animal and swallowed. Embrodieried eyes done properly can still reflect the “personality” of the stuffed animal and can last for years.  There are many stuffed animal with safety eyes and noses that are developed specifically for children of this age group.

Most stuffed animal labels specify that the animal is appropriate for children over 3 years of age.  Many of the eyes for these stuffed animals are a washer type that attach very securely.  This is the best type of eye for stuffed animals for young children that are past the embrodieried eyes stage. Although most manufactuers recognize the importance of these safety features and use very secure methods of attaching eyes and noses,  you should still always examine the stuffed animal yourself before giving to young children or children prone to biting or chewing on stuffed animals.

Shanie Shih Tzu Puppy Plush

The next best thing to a real puppy is a puppy stuffed animal.  Plush puppies are available in a wide variety of types from mutts to purebred puppies.

A stuffed puppy may be a good option for someone who is not able to have a puppy at the present time or for someone who has a dog and wants a stuffed version that looks like the real thing, and some stuffed puppies look very realistic!

Puppies will always warm the hearts of dog lovers.  With the pet overpopulation problem, maybe a stuffed puppy is sometimes the best option until you can give a puppy from an animal shelter or rescue group a good home.

This mini stuffed animal is 8 inches tall.

Mini stuffed animals can be an appealing choice because of both space considerations and their visual appeal. 

People are attracted to small animals such as baby puppies, kittens or wildlife.  Mini stuffed animals frequently have a similar “cuteness” factor which reminds people of babies.  This makes the mini stuffed animal appealing to both collectors and children alike.

Although stuffed animals can be of almost any size, mini stuffed animals have a special advantage of being easy to carry with you. Since children frequently become very attached to their stuffed animals, the mini sized plush animal might be a good choice since it is easy to carry by hand or pack in a child’s bag  or backpack for taking with them to a babysitter, on vacation or to grandma’s house.

A child can become very attached to a favorite stuffed animal

Lost stuffed animals can pose a real problem for children and parents alike. Many younger children view a stuffed animal as a companion in much the same way as they would view a human friend.  Their imagination allows them to interact with stuffed animals in a way that can form strong bonds between a child and his imaginary friend. But what do you do when the child loses a stuffed animal that is particularly special to him or her?

The first thing you should do is to search any likely areas that the stuffed animal may have been misplaced. Children can sometimes set a stuffed animal down somewhere and forget where they put it, causing a temporary panic that can be easily taken care of by locating the animal. Sometimes this is not the case, however, and the stuffed animal can be lost for an extended period of time or perhaps forever.

The best way to handle the situation is to find a replacement that, if not exact, is extremely similar to the animal that the child lost. Depending on the availability of that style of stuffed animal, this can vary from being extremely easy to nearly impossible. A good way to ensure that you will have a replacement stuffed animal for your child is to buy two of the same stuffed animal and keep one out of sight just in case something happens to the original.

If finding an exact replacement is out of the question, try to find another stuffed toy of the same animal. This will make it easier for the child to adapt to the new stuffed animal and will most likely cut down the time spent getting over the loss of the old one. Some children will adapt to their new toy very quickly, but some will take a longer time. This mostly depends on the extent of the child’s relationship with their stuffed animal and on the mindset of the child as well. 

While losing a stuffed friend can be temporarily traumatic for a child, it is unlikely to cause any long-term grief or sadness. As time passes, the child will always move on to different toys and interests due to his ever developing understanding of the world around him.