What is the Spinoza Buddy Bear Project?

Spinoza was created as a healing gift of love. The "buddy bear project" was created for people to extend hope and encouragement to children in their communities.

Spinoza is a powerful form of therapy that benefits children throughout their lives. Spinoza also provides families with an effective tool for facilitating communication in a time of uncertainty or loss.

Who is the 'buddy bear project' for?
A child of any age who is diagnosed with a chronic illness, life threatening illness, or major organ failure.  We are also notified of children suffering from profound developmental disabilities, profound mental retardation, severe emotional/psychological traumas (victims of domestic abuse/violence) and children whose parents have recently passed away. Click here for our Online Enrollment Form for Parents.

How does Spinoza help children?
A special education teacher and a communication specialist created Spinoza in 1984. They envisioned a soft, huggable bear that spoke and sang from the heart. The unique songs and stories that are played inside of Spinoza’s internal tape player provide the listener with words of encouragement, comfort, self-esteem, and friendship. All of these things combine to create a very magical bear.

The Spinoza Company was founded in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The "buddy bear project" was created in 1994 out of a desire to provide every child who is in a challenging situation or crisis with a constant, inspirational companion.

A few ways that Spinoza helps children:

• The combination of healing music and storytelling with the tactile comfort of a soft teddy bear, helps a child bond to Spinoza.

• Spinoza provides effective distraction when children are faced with scary situations such as a hospital treatment or loss of a loved one.

• The uniqueness of Spinoza’s special stories and songs helps children with interaction, communication and a healthy expression of themselves.

How does Spinoza and his tapes provide therapy for children?
For children with a life challenging condition or crisis, time is precious and their lives become filled with limitations as well as tremendous amounts of fear. Their sense of self-esteem and confidence suffers with the change and loss in their lives. The tapes help the children express their feelings.

Two of Spinoza’s tapes, Breathing Healthy, Breathing Free and New Beginnings, were co-created with the Central Ohio Breathing Association and teach effective breathing techniques which help pain management. For some children, the results are reduced medications as well as a means of coping with the pain they may suffer daily. One of the tapes includes a special segment on asthma.

In what ways can Spinoza benefit the child's family?
One of the hardest things any parent can ever face is to have their child diagnosed with a threatening illness. There are no words to describe the helplessness they feel when they know their child's life may end before their own. The tape Hold On To Me, was developed not only to bring comfort to the children but to the parents and family as well.

Siblings of chronically ill children face their own set of challenges as family life is disrupted and their relationships with their parents and brother or sister change. Spinoza's messages and positive words help families to communicate their feelings in this difficult time.

Spinoza continues to be a tool of hope, encouragement, and unconditional love even after a child has passed away. Many children record personal messages to their family members and friends on a separate tape recorder. These tapes played in Spinoza create a cherished gift that no one can take away. Families who have lost a loved one feel drawn towards Spinoza because they know he was once something their child bonded with and loved and by keeping Spinoza close at hand, they feel closer to their child.