Teddy Bears Picnic gets tick of approval from children

Jacinta, 9, with her bear. Photo / Andrew Warner

Teddy bears, tractor rides and sunshine all featured at the Teddy Bears Picnic at Kuirau Park on Saturday.

Stuffed animals of all sizes clung closely to their owners as they enjoyed bouncy castles and the live entertainment.

Jacinta, 9, brought Princess Penelope although she underwent a transformation to be there.

Princess Penelope once belonged to her sister who had named it Fredrick.

Jacinta loves the colour pink but her mum suggested she add some more sparkle to the bear for the big day out.

"I only started dressing her up today but it didn't take long.

"I had to stuff a lot of stuffing into her neck and take the extra stuffing out of some pillows. We just used some extra ones but we had to tear them apart."

Jacinta, 9, with her bear on the train ride. Photo / Andrew Warner

Jacinta had only participated in the train ride and the three-legged race when the Rotorua Daily Post spoke with her and although she didn't have an idea of what she wanted she was looking forward to the face painting.

She said the three-legged race was fun and tricky.

"I had to do it with my friend and we came in last.

"We fell over, many many times."

She thought the key to success was racing with her teddy because she could control it better.

Rotowhenua Kiwanis president Grant Gibson said although they didn't make a lot of money from the event anything they did went back into the community.

"The Kiwanis club is for helping the children of the world and it is just a nice day for the kids.

"It's simple stuff that may be old fashioned."

The day hosted an egg and spoon race, three-legged race, sack race and tug of war.

"The Kiwanis group in Morrinsville brought their train-ride over for us, and we are going to have a parade of teddy bears at the end.

"Sometimes you think, 'oh goodness me do we have all this hassle again' but then you see the faces on the kids as they fall over and try and run with a spoon and the golf ball falls off."