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Ideas for the Home

You are here: Home / Kid Ideas / Bear Cake: Adorable Teddy Bear Birthday Idea

By Carrie Ypma on February 24, 2018 11 Comments

Bear Cake: Adorable Teddy Bear Birthday Idea

Kid Ideas

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Making a bear cake for your child’s birthday is easier than you’d think. With this tutorial, you’ll have an adorably sweet dessert for your child’s party.

Celebrating your child’s first birthday is a special and fun occasion. Today we’re looking back at the teddy bear themed party we threw for our oldest son when he turned one. We even had a birthday cake shaped like a teddy bear. Making a bear cake for your child’s birthday isn’t difficult. With this step-by-step tutorial, you, too can make this cute birthday cake for your child’s party.

What a cute bear cake! This teddy bear is adorable for a kid's birthday party.

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links for products or services we think you’ll like. This means if you make a purchase from one of these links, we’ll make a small commission at no additional cost to you so we can keep the great ideas for the home coming your way. All opinions expressed are our own, derived from our personal experience.

Themed Birthday Cakes – A Tradition

I recently enrolled my oldest son, C1, in kindergarten for the fall, which has me feeling a bit nostalgic. It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating his first birthday. In just a few short months, he’ll be five. Then before we know it we’ll be enrolling him in college instead of kindergarten. Time sure does fly, doesn’t it?

For the boys’ birthdays, I let them choose a theme and then try to create a cake to go with it. For example, last year when C1 turned 4, he wanted a Muppet birthday cake.

For their first birthdays, though, they didn’t have opinions yet so I got to choose the theme. Each month of their first year after they were born, I took their photo alongside a stuffed animal, then used that stuffed animal as the theme for their birthday cake and party. C2 (our son who’s now two years old) had a zebra birthday cake for his first birthday.

I didn’t start blogging until C1 was 3 1/2 though so I thought it would be fun to do a throwback post sharing some of the ideas we incorporated into his first birthday party.

Great First Birthday Idea: Take a photo of your child once a month next to a stuffed animal, then use the stuffed animal to set the theme for your child's 1st birthday party. - Kenarry.com

Monthly Photos of Baby With Mr. Bear

When C1 was an infant, I took his photo every month in the gliding rocking chair in his nursery with a teddy bear, he received as a gift from Kent’s parents. The bear wears a very formal necktie, so we’ve named him Mr. Bear. (How else would you address someone wearing a tie, right?!)

What a cute bear cake! This teddy bear is adorable for a kid's birthday party.

A Mr. Bear-Themed 1st Birthday

I found some cute teddy bear themed first birthday plates, napkins, a bib and a banner that said “The Big One.”

Mr. Bear’s necktie is dark blue with white polka dots, so I carried that into the balloons. I also used a blue ribbon with white polka dots and small light blue clothespins to hang 12 – 5 x 7 photos showing C1 with Mr. Bear each month of his first year. It’s just amazing to look at all those photos side by side and see how much children grow in that first year of life.

The focal point of the party (besides the birthday boy, of course) was the bear cake I created to look like Mr. Bear:

What a cute bear cake! This teddy bear is adorable for a kid's birthday party.

How to Make a Bear Cake

Making a bear cake is easier to do than you’d think!

What You Need:

  • 2 cake mixes (Any flavor will work, but I chose chocolate.)
  • 12 cup muffin pan
  • Mini loaf pan
  • 9″ round cake pan
  • 6″ round cake pan (I actually used a small round oven-safe glass bowl that was about 5 1/2″ in diameter.)
  • Chocolate frosting
  • A fork
  • White frosting
  • Blue food coloring
  • Cake decorating tips
  • Disposable cake decorating bags
  • 1 black jelly bean
  • 2 malted milk balls

Instructions:

1. Prepare the cake mixes. Follow the instructions on the side of the cake mix box using vegetable oil, water and eggs to prepare the cake mixes.

2. Divide the batter between the various baking pans. To make the bear cake, you will need to fill the following baking pans about 2/3 full:

  • 1 – 9″ round pan
  • 1 – 6″ round pan or glass bowl
  • 2 – small loaves in the mini loaf pan
  • 2 – cupcakes

Suggestion: Use the extra cake batter to make additional cupcakes. You can frost them and use candy and chocolate chips to make little bear cupcakes.

Simple Bear Cupcakes - Kenarry.com

3. Bake the cake. Put the cake in a preheated oven and cook per the instructions on the box or until a toothpick comes out clean. Note: the cupcakes will bake much faster than the other parts of the bear cake, so keep an eye on them. Allow the cake to cool for 10-15 minutes.

4. Assemble the cake. Carefully turn the cakes out of the pans and put the bear cake together. You can see in the picture, I assembled our Mr. Bear cake on the back of a cookie sheet. Here is how I did it: 

  • The large round cake becomes the bear’s body.
  • The small round cake is the head.
  • Cut the top off one of the cupcakes and turn it upside down to be the bear’s snout.
  • Cut another cupcake in half to be the bear’s ears. You may need to carve a semi-circle into the cupcake halves to make it fit tightly against the bear’s head.
  • For the arms and legs, cut the two loaf cakes at diagonals about 1/3 of the way down from the top going in opposite directions.
  • One loaf becomes the left leg and left arm. The other loaf then becomes the right leg and right arm. Allow the bear cake to cool completely before you frost it.

What a cute bear cake! This teddy bear is adorable for a kid's birthday party.

5. Frost the bear cake. Use a knife or metal spatula to frost the bear cake with chocolate frosting. Tip: My mom taught me to always move your frosting knife in the same direction to prevent pulling crumbs up as you frost the cake.

What a cute bear cake! This teddy bear is adorable for a kid's birthday party.

6. Create fur on the bear cake. Use a fork to fluff the chocolate frosting in various directions to give it a texture like fur.

7. Add any accessories with frosting and candy. Use a toothpick to draw in the frosting where you want the tie or other accessories to go. Mix white frosting with food coloring. Put a tip in the bottom of a cake decorating bag and fill it with frosting. Pipe the frosting onto the cake to fill in the drawing you made with your toothpick.

What a cute bear cake! This teddy bear is adorable for a kid's birthday party.

Add candy for the eyes and nose on the bear cake. I used a toothpick to draw Mr. Bear’s mouth. I also used a little frosting to write C1’s name on the cake. Both Mr. Bear and I were thrilled with how the bear cake turned out!

Teddy Bear Birthday Cake: Adorably Sweet Birthday Idea - Kenarry.com

If you liked this bear cake idea, please share it with your friends or pin it for later:

What a cute bear cake! This teddy bear is adorable for a kid's birthday party.

More Birthday Party Ideas

Here are some more birthday party ideas to help you celebrate!

  • Avengers Cake and Party Idea
  • Despicable Me Party Idea
  • Dinosaur Birthday Cake and Party Ideas

First published February 2014. Updated February 2018. 

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Kid Ideas

About Carrie Ypma

Carrie is the chief writer, crafter and creator here at Ideas for the Home by Kenarry®. She's an optimist by nature and enjoys sharing recipes, trying new craft ideas, planning for parties and events as well as organizing and decorating. She and her husband, Kent live in Michigan. She also loves to hide away in a castle under the stairs reading to her two young boys and help guests plan vacations at Sunshine Villa at Glenbrook Resort, their short term vacation rental home in Orlando near Walt Disney World.

Whether you’re cooking, crafting or creating for your family, follow Carrie on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get inspiring ideas for your home. For home organization tips and ideas, check out her other website, Clutter Keeper or follow her on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In this ultimate guide, you'll learn how to make a burlap wreath with ribbon for your home. The FREE eBook includes easy step-by-step instructions plus inspiring craft and decor ideas to make wreaths for fall, Christmas, Easter and other holidays.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carrie says

    March 4, 2015 at 9:11 pm

    Oh Joybee! Those cakes sound adorable. Thanks for sharing your story and how she did it.

    Reply
  2. Rebecca says

    March 5, 2015 at 2:19 pm

    That is an adorable bear cake! I love how you made it look like fluffy fur instead of just frosting spread on there. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Carrie says

      March 5, 2015 at 3:27 pm

      Thanks Rebecca! It’s so easy to make fur by just fluffing the frosting with a fork. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Adelina Priddis says

    March 7, 2015 at 9:54 am

    Love this cake! And the first birthday idea too. Thanks for sharing on Weekend Bites!

    Reply
    • Carrie says

      March 9, 2015 at 9:36 pm

      Thanks, Adelina! I’m thrilled you came by from Weekend Bites to check it out.

      Reply
  4. Free says

    March 7, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    My little one has a birthday coming up next week and I think this will be perfect for her. Thanks for sharing on Oh My Heartsie Girls Wordless Wednesday Link Party. I hope to see what you have to share next week

    Reply
    • Carrie says

      March 9, 2015 at 9:35 pm

      You’re so welcome! So glad I could help give you some ideas for your little one’s birthday. If you try it, I’d love to see pics of how it turned out! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Rose's DIY Crafts, at FineCraftGuild says

    March 9, 2015 at 5:29 am

    Carrie, it is delightful to see how much fun you had making this bear cake. It truly is a work of art and adorable!! Hugs/kisses, from Rose, FineCraftGuild.com

    Reply
    • Carrie says

      March 9, 2015 at 9:28 pm

      Oh Rose! I’m so thankful for your kind words. It was a fun cake to make. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Carrie says

    March 9, 2015 at 9:23 pm

    Awww, thanks, Lou Lou Girls! I’m so glad you like the bear cake and appreciate the pin and tweet to share it with your readers. Thank you! Thank you!

    Reply
  7. Carrie says

    March 9, 2015 at 9:47 pm

    Oh noooo! It fell over?! I bet your mom was as heartbroken as you were over it, Kyla. Thanks for sharing the story. Hopefully you can both laugh about it now all these years later. And you know – it’s never too late for a bear shaped cake! 😉

    Reply

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