

If none of the outfits catch your eye, you can work with one of the designers to come up with a custom ensemble. There are countless options for costumes and clothes, whether your bear is an athlete, a soldier, or a princess. Showing off one of the many costume options There’s no reason for your bear to be naked. Once each bear part is fully stuffed, the pieces are put together and the bear is ready to be dressed. They are sewn inside out so the seam is hidden and the joints are inserted in the proper places. This is where the bears actually started to look like - well, bears. The next station we got to see was sewing and assembly. We all got to choose a bear-shaped piece of fur to attach to our admission tickets. The kiddos were shown some pieces and had to figure out what bear parts they were. This was where the fur was measured and cut into all of the pieces that make a bear. Cutting station, all the bear parts, sweet furry bears Some of those bears were easy to spot, but there were a few that were very well-hidden in the rafters! Our first stop was the cutting station. They had to solve a word puzzle by finding different bears and writing down the letters that each bear was holding. All of the kids on the tour were equipped with pens and game cards for a fun scavenger hunt in the factory itself. Then we were off to see how the magic happens. Our tour guide, Bear Ambassador Danielle, really knew her teddy bear history! Our Bear Ambassador, DanielleĪs we walked into the factory, we were given a quick history of the company, as well as a run-down of the different “flavors” bears come in. When it was time for our tour to start, we lined up outside the massive entranceway doors. My girls got to get some extra-large bear hugs from some massive teddies, and we all picked our favorite bears from each display. We had a little bit of time to wait before our tour started so we wandered around the gift shop.

Tour ticket We were handed our tickets (in the form of little green buttons) for the tour and were ready to go! The girls made a sweet new friend That excitement built as we walked through the entrance doors. As we got closer, we could see the bright colors of the building and my kiddos started to get really excited. It was pretty easy to tell we were there when we saw the gigantic hay teddy bear sculpture at the beginning of the drive. On a clear, cold day in early March, the Van Leuven clan descended upon Vermont Teddy Bear Co.’s headquarters.
