Bears

Dramatic Play

I made a winter bear cave out of a tent, plus added all the stuffed bears we have, and 1 polar bear costume. They loved hibernating and caring for their baby bears. It was darling.


Blocks
Gymnastics mat!

This was their first time playing on it, and it's perfect for days when we can't go outside and play. We learned how to wait in line and take turns, since the rule is 1 kid at a time. They had fun doing somersaults and other silly tricks they could think of.

Lincoln Logs

These are a hit and the kids always love them, but I'm always iffy about them with this age group. They want to build with them, but they are a little complicated. I got a lot of requests to build them houses. So I spent a lot of time here, showing them how to stack them and helping them build. It's doable and they got the hang of it.

Goldilocks and the 3 Bears
 
After we acted it out, I told them I was putting it into the dramatic play area the next day, and they were not ready to give up their bear cave! So it went into the block center instead. They acted out the story over and over and over.

Besides these fun things, I had small animals and puzzles on the shelf. The animals, especially, were a hit.



Art

We painted with watercolors.

We played in shaving cream with bears. They were so funny, making it into a bear wash, instead of a car wash. Great sensory and pretend play!
 
Small Manipulatives

Counting Bears
 
I wanted to use these in several math activities this week, so they were available for free play as well. I was taught that children usually can't use manipulatives and toys like this to learn, until they've had a chance to explore them and free play with them, and that's what they did.

Animal lacing cards

Bristle Blocks

Snack

Teddy Grahams

Porridge, to go along with Goldilocks. They actually loved it, and most had seconds. I was kind of surprised. A few only tasted it, but at least they tried it.

Black Bear food. This was my favorite snack of the week. We sang about black bear food, and hunted for it, but I'm sure they remember better by tasting it themselves! We ate family style, and passed the food around the tables. They took what they wanted, then passed it along. I was very proud of how well they did. They had mixed nuts, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and grapes. They all at least tried everything, then they continued to pass them around for seconds until it was all gone. They each got a gummy bear as well, to represent the bugs bears eat.

Large Group

We learned 2 new songs, The Bear Went Over the Mountain, and Are You Sleeping Little Bear?

The bear went over the mountain,
the bear went over the mountain,
the bear went over the moutain,
to see what it could eat!
And what do you think it ate?
And what do you think it ate?
It ate___________on the mountain,
it ate __________ on the mountain,
it ate _______ on the mountain, as much as it could eat!

We also learned the word hibernate.

Day 1, we read Alaska's 3 bears and learned about polar bears, grizzly bears, and black bears. We spent a long time reading and comparing the 3 bears. It goes into details about the differences in the bears, their habitats, and what they eat, so they were fascinated learning all of that.

Day 2, we read Goldilocks and the 3 Bears and acted it out several times, until they all had turns to be in it.

Day 3, we read Black Bear Cub at Sweet Berry Trail. I hid pictures of bear food around the room, and they had to forage for it. I was surprised at how much they loved it. They begged for me to hide more, so they could forage more.

Small Group

We actually both worked with the kids and the counting bears to sort, count, and make patterns. We did different things with the kids each day. Sometimes they did things on their own, and other times they had to sort them as a small group. Lots of great learning!