Sunday, September 7, 2014

We're Going On A Bear Hunt!



Hi! I'm Ayn and I am a Ga. Pre-K teacher, serving 4 and 5 year olds in an inclusive setting. I share my classroom adventures on my blog, little illuminations


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One of the favorite activities during the first few weeks of school is going on a BEAR HUNT! Students bring their bears to school and we have activities all week that involve their bears. The culminating activity is going on a real live bear hunt.

We make bear headbands out of paper circles.



And binoculars out of paper rolls, tape and string.





I have a book that has directions on how to draw simple animals and we follow the directions to draw a bear. These are just TOO cute!!!!




There are lots of fun ways to incorporate bears into snack time. Goldfish, Teddy Grahams and Honeycomb cereal are fun to sort and pattern with --- and even more to fun to eat afterwards!



We get in some great large motor fun with the "Teddy Bear Olympics". We played games that were good for promoting large motor skills, such as the "Teddy Bear Bounce", the "Great Bear Toss", the "Balance Beam Bear Walk", played "Musical Bears", (similar to musical chairs only with our bears) and had a "Bear Relay" race.

For the "Teddy Bear Bounce", we put the bears in the parachute and bounce them as high as we can.




The "Great Bear Toss" the children tried to toss the bears in the basket. As the throws got better, we moved the baskets farther away.




We practiced being mama bears as we carried our bears across a balance beam in the "Balance Beam Bear Walk".


I have several versions of the "Bear Hunt" song and we played them all several times. The Learning Station has a great video of the "Bear Hunt" you might enjoy.





This is another version of the "Bear Hunt" song that has become one of our favorites. It is from Greg & Steve's Kids In Action cd. I found a video on youtube of this version but it is not credited, either. It's a little different, but a good version. 




I have stations (mud, grass, river, etc.) all around the classroom that we use to go on classroom bear hunts. As we reach each obstacle, we make the appropriate motions of swimming, tromping through mud, and swishing through the tall grass. 





This year is the 25th anniversary of the Michael Rosen book, "We're Going On A Bear Hunt". 



There is a neat video of Michael Rosen narrating the book. 


There are also a variety of activities on the "We're Going On A Bear Hunt 25th Anniversary" website



At the end of the week, we have a "Bear Scavenger Hunt". I place bears with clues all over the school and the kids have to find the bears with the clues and figure out wher the next bear will be. At the end, I have a big bear waiting with a special treat. This year, we found the ingredients for making s'mores!






Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook! And be sure to check out PreK+K Sharing EEE!

 

4 comments:

  1. It looks like your 'Bear Week' was really fun and exciting! There are lots of activities that can be created out of one thing. It's nice to know that you have made it an experience that allowed them to enjoy and develop their skills at the same time.

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    1. We do have a lot of fun, and there is quite a bit of learning going on, without the children even realizing it! Thanks! :)

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  2. This is about as cute as it gets! I've done a Bring-a-Teddy-Bear Class - but I may have to expand on that with some of your ideas, Ayn! Let's face it - Teddy Bears are still a favorite after 112 years!

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    1. Miss Carole, they do love their teddy bears! Especially comforting in the first few weeks of school, too!

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