HOW CAN THE BEARS WORK?

Perhaps one explanation is Mirror Neurons.

It's been shown in scientific experiments that when one animal is doing something such as eating a banana, another animal who is merely watching will have the same neurons lighting up in their brains as the animal who is doing the activity.

Likewise, in tests done with acupuncture, when needles are being inserted into points on one person, the same points are lighting up on a person who is only observing. In the case of the Magical Bears, we might conclude that when you are tapping on the bear, as you tap, your points would be lighting up as well.