Children, as well as adults, can form emotional connections with their soft toys, often sleeping or cuddling with them for comfort. They can help reduce anxiety, increase self esteem and help improve sleeping by providing a sense of security and banishing negative feelings. About a third of British adults report still sleeping with soft toys, and almost half have kept their childhood toys no matter how bedraggled they look!
The most common toy are the Teddy Bears! In fact at Beehive we have one of our bestsellers Edward Bear who you can shop for online.
Cuddling a soft toy, often created in the shape of animals with bears leading the way but dogs coming up second, can improve your mental health as it releases natural oxytocin into your system. This is a hormone that leaves us feeling calm and soothed for everyone of all ages.
But where did the humble soft toy come from? Many of us know the origins story of the Teddy Bear brought to life by the Steiff family and named after American President Teddy Roosevelt, but it’s widely believed that they have been in existence since the early Roman days when the poorer children played with rag dolls stuffed with scraps whilst the more affluent children played with wooden toys. This developed on to Margarete Steiff making an elephant pin cushion and discovering that children were playing with them instead! So she created the first Teddy Bear which became loved by people no matter what age.
Soft toys are now a big business. With big brands and vast collections. You can get soft toys in any colour, any size, little to large, any animal type including snakes!, and for any price (the most expensive soft toy was a Louis Vuitton Teddy Bear that went for a whopping $2.1 million).
At Beehive you can start the love of a soft toy young with one of our baby gift sets or a comforter or you can discover all of our soft toy range including Hermit Crab, Roary Dinosaur (made in soft corduroy), Otto the Dog and Chunky Monkey to name but a few!
You never know, with this one special gift, you could be giving a lifetime of cuddles to someone.