The teddy is missing: a wanted poster before the tears arrive

Half past eight, the teddy is not in the bed, not on the sofa, not in the school bag, and the bottom lip is starting to wobble. You have two options: search frantically while the house fills with tears, or turn the search into a police case with a detective in charge, and the detective is your child. The second takes the same time and ends far better, whether the teddy turns up or not. The plan has three steps and fits into fifteen minutes: first the missing file, which the child dictates and the AI writes up; then the wanted poster, drawn by an image AI and stuck on the fridge; and finally the search mission, with clues for the places teddies like to hide. If it never turns up, there is a plan B at the end of this article, and it is a good one.

Step 1: the missing file

Here the AI does not search anything, it interviews. The child answers the questions of a very serious detective: what the teddy is called, what animal it is, what colour, how big compared with something in the house, any distinguishing marks (the stitched ear, the missing eye, the chocolate stain), favourite food, where it was last seen and what reward the family is offering. That becomes the file. Copy the prompt as it is and let the child answer out loud while you type, or type themselves if they already write.

You are the chief detective of the Bureau of Missing Teddies. A child aged [AGE] has lost their teddy and needs your help. Ask them questions one at a time, short and kind, and wait for the answer before the next one: the teddy's name, what animal it is, colour, size compared with something in the house, distinguishing marks, favourite food, where it was last seen, and what reward the family is offering. When you have everything, write a WANTED file with those details, the name in capitals, short sentences and a touch of humour. Then propose a search mission with five clues written as riddles for five places in the house where teddies like to hide. No sad endings: the detective always has hope.

Step 2: the poster

Draw a WANTED poster in an old Wild West style, aged paper, big letters, for a lost teddy: [TEDDY DESCRIPTION FROM THE FILE]. The teddy is in the centre looking adventurous, not sad. Underneath, a blank space where the reward will be written by hand. Children's book illustration style, warm colours, no small text.

Step 3: the search mission

• The five clues from the AI are read one at a time. Each one leads to a place: under the bed, the laundry basket, the car, the toy box, the school bag.
• At each place the detective questions a witness: a cushion, the washing machine, the dog. The witnesses speak in whatever voice you give them. This is where the tears get forgotten.
• If the teddy turns up at clue three, the mission carries on to five anyway: the case is closed with all the evidence collected and a photo of the reunion.
• If it does not turn up, the detective writes the word OPEN on the file and the poster stays on the fridge. Open cases are often solved on laundry day.

Plan B, if it never comes back: Some teddies stay on a train. When a few days have passed and it is clear it is not coming back, the same detective can close the case another way: by asking the AI for a postcard from Biscuit from wherever he is now, telling what he has seen and who he has met, or for a goodbye letter that the child dictates. It is not a lie: the child knows perfectly well who is writing the postcard, and it still helps, because it gives the story an ending instead of a gap in the bed. If they would rather not, that is respected. Some children want the postcard and some want a new teddy with the ear stitched exactly the same, and both are fine.