Kindergarten teacher Anita surprises group 1 with their self-drawn cuddly toys
Miss Anita from Ootmarsum in Twente has been a passionate kindergarten teacher for over forty years. She likes to surprise her students at the end of the school year and came up with something very special this year. The children were allowed to come up with their own stuffed animal and then make a drawing of it. Teacher Anita then crocheted cuddly toys from it as a surprise.
28 unique, handmade copies and almost half a year of hard work. The children were thrilled when they were handed out their own stuffed animals. Anita came up with the idea after her son had forwarded a message about an English teacher who had also crocheted cuddly toys for her students. “And then I thought, that’s a nice present,” the teacher tells RTL News.
Grateful children and parents
“The kids loved getting a present,” says Anita. “Everyone immediately recognized their own doll.” That same evening she received a message from a mother of a child in her class. “In the evening I received a picture of a mother, that the child was lying in bed with the head on top of the cuddly toy.” That’s what Anita does it all for. It is very special for children that they can see that if they create something, you can also make it.
Quite a job
Miss Anita already started crocheting in February. The number of hugs she had to make, namely 28 in total, did not deter her. “I crochet more often, it’s a lot of fun to do,” she says. She crocheted the cuddly toys in front of the TV in the evening. “The crocheting itself is not that bad, but putting it together, I had misjudged it a bit,” she says. “But once you start, you have to finish it.”
So it was quite a project, but Miss Anita thought it was great to do. In fact, she would do it again in a heartbeat. “I actually always make something, I’m just very creative. That’s why I love toddlers so much.”
Sweet gesture
Anita’s colleagues also thought it was a very special gesture. “My colleague, our deputy, had asked if the hugs could be put on Facebook. Then one thing led to another and it went around like a rage. I am touched by all the compliments from people I don’t know.”
You can see all the hugs in the video below.
You didn’t know it yet but you need this.
This teacher asked her students from gr1 months ago to draw their favorite cuddly toy. She then crocheted all the drawings and gave them to the students as a surprise this week. On her own 40th anniversary of education. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/CdMr6AI1eW
— @MartijnSijtsma@mastodon.online (@MartijnSytsma) July 4, 2023
