Bear

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt {Free Printables!}

January 23, 2013 by LindseyW

We’re going on a bear hunt! We’re going to catch a big one!

There’s just something about that rhyme that kids love!

This week, we’re learning about bears (and hibernating) and of course, we had to read this book:

Don’t have the book? You can “read” it on SchoolTube!!

We still had the bear cave set up from yesterday’s activities, so it worked out perfectly there. We decided to turn our hallway into the path from the book. To begin, we checked the book and the made matching decorations for both the hallway and kitchen, leading the way to the bear cave!

Tall Grass. Cold River

Of course, we had to do the motions and the sound effects as we “walked” through these areas.

This was our muddy swamp. A brown sheet would have been much more realistic, but alas — I don’t have one.

Instead of making new trees for the “Stumble-Trip” forest, I just used our Christmas tree from the Alphabet Tree activity.

These were the snowflakes in the big storm, cut from coffee filters. Quick and Easy.

At the end of the “hunt”, there were usually one or two bears waiting inside the cave. We peeked in and were greeted by a fierce “ROAR!” Of course, we ran back through the kitchen, back down the hallway and into the bedroom. The kids jumped onto the bed and covered up!

This activity was a huge hit and covered a bunch of things from the preschool checklist!

Be Sure to Check out These Free Printables!

Coordinating Toddler Activity:

Go on a super simple bear hunt using a teddy bear and this post by Rainy Day Mum!

Check Off Your List:

Reading Comprehension
Scissor Practice (if your kids help with the grass or snowflakes)
Retelling stories
Remembering objects from a picture
Understand over and under
Understands fast and slow
Able to march

More Resources:

Going On A Bear Hunt (LP Version) by Veggie Tales (love this whole album!)
B is for Bear (including Bear Hunt) by Rockabye Butterfly (very cute!)

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.

**This post may contain affiliate links. Please see disclosure for exact details.**

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Animals in Winter {Hibernating Printable}

January 22, 2013 by LindseyW

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!