Socially distant bear hunts popping up all around the world to distract children from coronavirus

It began in Wichita, or maybe Philadelphia, no one is quite sure.

But one thing is certain — teddy bears and rainbows are beginning to pop up in gardens, windows and on fences around the world to create some social-distancing magic for children during the global coronavirus pandemic.

Schoolteacher Beth Gibson has just finished a bear hunt in the "small, close-knit community" of Gibson County in the United States.

She didn't know where the trend began, but saw a post about it on Facebook and decided to give it a go.

She said the isolation had been tough; she missed her students and her son missed his friends.

"I was searching for scavenger hunt-type activities that our kids could get out of the house to do while still socially distancing and came across this idea," she said.

She said there were so many bears in windows around her city it would take a week of driving around to spot them all.

'It makes you feel like there are people that have your back'

About 15,000 kilometres away in the Melbourne suburb of Strathmore, Natalie Roach caught onto the trend too.

The mother-of-two said the bear hunts have created a sense of safety in her community.

She said her family were lucky — she's a teacher and her husband is able to work from home in a secure job.

"I do know a lot of people who have lost their jobs or been temporarily stood down and it makes you want to help others a bit more," she said.

Ms Roach said the teddy bears connected her and her children with others in the neighbourhood in a way that was safe.

"It makes you feel like there are people that have your back and are out there for a genuine purpose," she said.

On the other side of the city, in Officer, Melissa Kleynhans feels exactly the same.

She posted on her local Facebook page asking people to pop a teddy bear in their window so her youngest child, Jacob, could go on a bear hunt.

Within hours, 100 people had sent her photos of their teddy bears sitting on windowsills.

It made her feel like people were trying to create a little happiness for others.

Her four-year-old son Jacob was "ecstatic", Melissa said, and other children began to join in on the hunt.

"We've got beanie bears, a teddy bears' picnic in one window, a bear that is 58 years old that one woman put out. She doesn't have kids and it brings this woman so much joy."

She also said posts on Facebook were reminding people not to touch rainbow and teddy bears that are on fences.

"Kids stay on the footpath, they point out the bears and count them," she said.

Melissa has since started the Facebook page, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, so people all over Melbourne can join in.

Across the city in Strathmore, Anita Flaim tied a teddy bear and pinned a painting of a rainbow by her three-year-old to her fence to join the hunt.

"The kids don't understand what's really going on, so before we go on complete lockdown we can spot these teddies," she said.

Ms Flaim said her 10-year-old had fun because of the joy it brought to her little sister and even people without children were popping a teddy in the window to join in.