When Mary Beth Minton’s three children were growing up, she saw that one of her daughters preferred playing with her teddy bear and dressing it up in outfits really designed for dolls.
Flash forward a few years and the Greenwich resident decided to use her sewing skills and develop a toy that combined the concept of a teddy bear with themed, doll-like outfits. Minton says she wanted a toy that would be both fun and educational. The result of her efforts is ‘Zylie the Bear,’ a cuddly, world-traveling toy that embraces the security children find in a teddy bear and the educational concepts of teaching world geography and culture.
Minton says thousands of the panda-like bear have been sold in specialty toy shops in the tri-state region—from Smart Kids Greenwich, Stepping Stones Museum Shop in Norwalk, Age of Reason in Westport, and upstate at the Red Barn of Woodbridge. On Long Island, they’ve arranged for children attending the OASIS Kids Camps in Manorhaven, Point Lookout and New Hyde Park, to have access to the dolls.