Backpacker bears   Subject areas Geography Languages Study of Society and Environment ICT Age level 6 years to 14 years Length of project on-going Summary Backpacker bears are soft toys or puppets that travel across the world as representatives of your class.  They go as representatives of the children, as sending the children themselves is an expensive and unrealistic proposition for most schools. Backpacker bears are a great way to enhance communications between e-link schools.  They can provide a focus for many different educational activities.  They provide children in linked schools with an additional reason to communicate with each other.  1) Finding a bear Once the children have found a suitable bear, they give it a name and welcome it into the class.  You don't have to use a bear.  Other soft toys or even Pokemon figures do the job just as well. 2) Starting the Journey Send a package with the backpacker bear and other items to your partner school.  Bears should take with them a letter of introduction, a travel diary, photos of their hometown and school.  They can also take gifts for the host school children such as bookmarks, local maps, newspapers and brochures.  Pupils can get the bears to take audiocassettes with recordings of messages or songs.  They could even take a cheap camera to record the more memorable events of the journey.  It's a good idea to include a sturdy bag to keep all the bears things together. 3) Staying in Contact   While the backpacker bear is away, the classes stay in touch using e-mail, fax, electronic greeting cards, postcards or possibly even the phone.  You can record the adventures of your backpacker bear on your school's section of the e-link website.  What classes do with the bears depends on the agreed aims of the teachers involved in the project. Send the backpacker bear home to visit the children's families.  Children can write in the bear's diary about their day-to-day life. Include the backpacker bear in family and school excursions. Record school events in the diary. Arrange media appearances for the school paper and local newspaper. Collect everyday items to send back with the bear such as bus tickets, food labels, restaurant menus.  4) The Return   Return the backpacker bear to his or her home school with souvenirs and photographs.   Online resources Keith Koala's homepage: Keith is a bear who travelled to Japan from All Saints Primary School in Australia.  Please also visit Common Good Bears    Click here to return to the projects contents page