Old Bear Stories

The toys meet a new friend; a bouncy dog called Ruff. When they discover that he has never had a birthday party they quickly set about putting things right. They decide to hold an all-week birthday to celebrate all the birthdays Ruff has missed. Each day brings different birthday fun; parties, presents, games and birthday cakes. And on the seventh birthday they give Ruff the present he has always wanted.

Old Bear and his friends are playing in the garden. As Bramwell is making pirate hats with scraps of newspaper, the toys think it would be a good idea to have a boat race. First of all, the toys have to build their boats, (although Sailor already has his own) then, when they are ready, they launch them in the stream and the race begins. It doesn't go quite according to plan but a spectacular air/stream rescue by Rabbit saves the day and it isn't the biggest boat that wins the race.

Dusty windows remind Old Bear that it's time for a little spring-cleaning. All the toys lend a hand and find that cleaning can be fun. They even tie dusters to their feet and skate away the dust. Old Bear's suggestion; that they try a little airborne dusting, works well at first but soon it looks as if it might end up with a rather bumpy landing. Luckily, Little Bear's clever plan brings them safely back down to earth.

Ruff sets off in pursuit of an irresistible smell. Little Bear follows him and together they search high and low for Ruff's mysterious smell. Ruff's nose leads them all over the house and he discovers plenty of smelly things but not the one he is looking for. However, in the end, with the other toys' help he finally tracks down what he has been looking for in the most unlikely of places.

The toys are searching everywhere for a missing piece of jigsaw puzzle. Their search leads them all over the house and they find all sorts of interesting things they were not looking for. When they find some plates that belong to the Dolls' House dolls, Mrs Doll invites them to tea to thank them. When tea is served everyone is amazed to see what Mrs Doll is using as a tray.

Little Bear is woken in the middle of the night by a crash and a 'whooo' noise. Is it a ghost? He wakes the others and together they try to find out who made the noise. At last they meet a little white owl whose nest of socks has fallen down from the top of the wardrobe. The toys find their new friend an even better nest and Little Bear has a rather unexpected night-time flight. When the toys wake in the morning they find that another mystery has been solved in the night.

When Duck wakes up covered in mysterious red spots, the day's plans; to paint the garden gate have to be postponed. The toys think up many different ways to entertain Duck and help him forget his spots. Duck thoroughly enjoys having so many special treats until, by chance, Little Bear discovers the unexpected cause of the spots. Perhaps Duck is not unwell after all.

Old Bear is reading a story to his friends in the garden when Jolly Tall gives them the idea of putting on a play. The toys make a stage on the grass and perform their own, rather special, version of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. Little Bear doesn't want to be 'Baby Bear' until he realises there will be real porridge in the play. With Rabbit as a rather over-enthusiastic Goldilocks and three bowls of porridge on the table, just about anything could happen.

While searching for treasure in the sandpit Rabbit discovers a hoard of yellow counters. Bramwell Brown suggests they use the counters as money. They decide to have a market and all make their own stalls to sell odds and ends. They have great fun buying things from each other with the counters and are puzzled when Old Bear buys lots of containers from Rabbit's stall. The mystery is soon solved when Old Bear teaches the toys another game they can play with their counters.

It is Old Bear's birthday and the toys decide to surprise him with a special, musical treat. Everyone sets out to find or make an instrument and soon they are making wonderful music. Old Bear is delighted with his surprise and the only problem is that Bramwell has managed to lose his special birthday buns. However, all is revealed when Little Bear's big bass drum rolls out of control.

Old Bear promises to read Little Bear a very special bedtime story because he has been so helpful. Little Bear is very excited as he gets ready for bed but then he can`t find Old Bear anywhere. It seems that everyone else is also too busy to read him a story. Little Bear is very disappointed, but he needn't worry; he eventually discovers Old Bear and the reason why all his friends have been so busy. And his bedtime story really is extra special.

The toys are having a wonderful time using Old Bear's special chair as a slide. Finally, when Ruff has a go, it collapses and, however hard they try, they can't put it back together again. They decide it must be broken and are worried what Old Bear will say when he finds out. However, when at last they pluck up courage to confess, Old Bear shows them how easy it is to mend a deck chair ... if only you know how!

It looks as if nobody wants to ride in Zebra's little wooden cart now the toys have seen Bramwell Brown's big, red car. But the car likes to go very fast and the lack of brakes makes it really rather dangerous. After much excitement and a few disasters, all the friends agree that Zebra's little cart might be, after all, a much safer and more comfortable ride.