Ground floor windows in Utrecht, Amsterdam, Delft and elsewhere are filling up with teddy bears as their owners join a craze to keep children busy during coronavirus crisis.

Inspired by the popular children’s book ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, the bears are meant to cheer up young children and their parents who are being kept indoors.

‘I read about the success in Belgium, and I thought we have to do it in the Netherlands too,’ Petra van der Stelt, from Delft, told Trouw. Now more than 9,000 people have registered their bears on the Facebook page Van der Stelt set up.

You can also follow the bears on Google maps and work out a bear-spotting route in advance, if their owners have registered them.

The aim is to give children some fun while out for a walk, says Van der Stelt. However, she warns, families should be careful to keep to the official guidelines and not go hunting in groups.

Send your bear photos to Molly@dutchnews.nl.