Boy, 3, who got fed up with trying to pick up a teddy bear in the arcade machine

The boy, 3, who got fed up with trying to pick up a teddy bear in the arcade machine ... and crawled inside instead

By Chris Brooke
Last updated at 11:16 PM on 08th June 2008

They say the fun's in the taking part. But someone forgot to explain that to Christopher Air.

And when his mother Elaine took the three-year-old to the games arcade on the family's holiday in Skegness, he just wanted to get his hands on the winnings.

For a while, he had been playing happily on the crane machine, trying to pick up a teddy bear with its mechanical arm. But he wasn't having any success.

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Trapped: Little Christopher was stuck in the machine for one and a half hours

And as Mrs Air went to change a £20 note so he could try again, Christopher took matters into his own hands. Rather like a scene in the film Toy Story, he spotted the flap on the machine, from where the prizes are delivered, and squeezed inside.

Mrs Air said: 'My back was only turned for a minute. When I looked around, Christopher was inside.

'He's good at solving problems. He obviously saw getting the teddy bear as a problem and getting inside the machine as the answer.' For Christopher, at last united with the bear, it was the perfect solution... in the short term at least.

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Reunited: Christopher Air with Winnie and parents Peter, 33, and Elaine, 33

But it proved more difficult to get out, than in - especially as the arcade owner couldn't locate the keys.

Mrs Air, 33, of Grangetown, Sunderland, added: 'Initially, Christopher was laughing. But then a crowd started to gather and he got upset and started crying.'

After 30 minutes, he was released - and is sure to have learned his lesson.

But, misguided as it was, his ingenuity paid off - the arcade owner gave him the bear to cheer him up.

The toddler is now back at home with Winnie.

Mrs Air added: 'If you mention what happened, he just laughs and he puts a little guilty look on his face.

'You can see he’s a bit embarrassed about it but he’s none the worse for what happened.'