Animals in Winter {Hibernating Printable}

Even though there isn’t much snow around this week, the temperatures have been pretty cold and we’ve been learning all about animals in the winter.  I picked up a couple great books from the library including:

Animals in Winter (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

and

Why Do Bears Hibernate?

The text in the bear book was a little too complex for my kids (ages 2-3), but they really enjoyed the pictures and seeing different types of bears.   They loved the Animals in Winter book, especially the page that talked about the groundhog building a bathroom under the ground!   I spotted a great game over at Teach Preschool where kids climb into a “bear den” to hibernate.  When the timer buzzes, winter is over and the kids all come roaring out the cave.  I knew our kids would love that as well, so we set up a little tent/cave.

Heading into the cave for winter.  The little bears “ate” lots of berries and other bear food before heading to their cave for the winter.

Sleepy Little Bears

After the “bears” had been in the den for about 10 seconds, I would yell “Spring Time” and all the bears would come out and s-t-r-e-t-c-h.  It was so cute!  Then they would all yell, “It’s time to hibernate again!”  We had to play many, many times!  It was worth it to hear them walking around saying “hibernate” though!

Afterwards, we talked about other animals that hibernate, using Animals in Winter as a reference.   Kelli made up this perfect chart to go with the book, so be sure to grab yours (free printable).  The printable contains a chart for “Hibernating” and “Non-hibernating” and then a number of animals to cut out and sort into columns.  Perfect for winter learning!

My 3 year old loved matching the little pictures to the animals in the book and then placing in the appropriate column.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a more bear fun!

More Fun Resources to Check Out:

• Going on a Bear Hunt Printables (I love the “Hiding Bear” game)
• Bear Hunt Story Tray
• Exploring Hibernation with Rainy Day Mum

About the Author

Lindsey Whitney is a blogger over at Growing Kids Ministry.  A blog designed to help parents, teachers, and Children’s  Ministry workers who want to help the kids they love grow in their faith.   You can connect with her via twitter or on facebook.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

$1.25 off any (1) GO Veggie!™ Dairy Free Cream Cheese/Shred

$1.15 off ONE Green Mountain Coffee® K-Cup® packs

$10.00 off any ONE Philips Norelco SensoTouch 2D or 3D Razor