Bear Theme Day

Bears

Whether your child is interested in teddy bears or real bears there are a lot of fun activities you can do for this Family Theme Day.

Print out the Family Theme Day Planner and decide which activities you’d like to do and in what order.

SONGS:

When I was in Girl Guides my favourite camp song was “I Met a Bear.” Check here for the lyrics in this simple repetition song: http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/b004.html

If your focus is on teddy bears today sing the classic song “Teddy Bears Picnic.” Check here for lyrics: http://bussongs.com/songs/teddy_bears_picnic.php

Another classic children’s song about bears is “The Bear Went Over the Mountain.” Check here for the lyrics: http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/b005.html

Disney’s “Bear Necessities” song from Jungle Book is a fun one too. Click here to watch Louis Armstrong singing it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXwEBp3cKfM

RHYMES:

“Teddy Bear Teddy Bear Turn Around” is a fun rhyme with actions to do with little children. Check here for the words http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=2186&c=51

This site has the words to “Teddy bear’s Picnic” plus other bear rhymes: http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems18.html

SCRAPBOOK ACTIVITIES:

COLOURING PAGES:

You can find many free colouring pages online by using your favourite search engine and typing in “Bear Coloring Pages” or “Teddy Bear” or print out my Bear Coloring Page.

JOURNALING QUESTION PROMPT:

Write out one or more of the following questions in your Family Theme Day Scrapbook or on a piece of paper to glue in your scrapbook: How many different types of bears can you name? What do bears eat? What makes bears unique? what is your favourite type of bear ? What is the name of your Teddy Bear?

Choose the level of your child:

¨ Toddler – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and have your child draw a picture of the answer

¨ Preschooler/Kindergartener – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and write the answer down for him/her leaving one word for him/her to write out himself/herself with your help. You could also encourage him/her to draw a picture as well.

¨ Early Grade School – have your child either write out the answer himself/herself (encourage phonetic spelling) without your help, or offer to help with spelling each word out loud one word at a time.

¨ Grade School – have your child write a sentence or two on his/her own and then read over and discuss the response. (You decide whether to correct the spelling or not)

¨ Older Child – have your child write a longer response (paragraph).

¨ As A Challenge – instead of a question ask your older child to write a story or a poem about bears or teddy bears.

PUZZLES:

Print out a Bears Word Search: Easy Bears Word Search or Moderate Bears Word Search.

Check here for the answer keys: Easy Bears Word Search Key or Moderate Bears Word Search Key.

BOOKS:

Raid your child’s bookshelves to find any books with bears or teddy bears in them.

Go to the library with your child to find some books about bears or teddy bears.

Go to the library on your own to find books about bears or teddy bears from both fiction and nonfiction to have already on hand for your theme day. Many libraries allow you to go online and search for titles based on subject (Search for “Bears” under “Children’s Books”). Reserve them if you can to save time.

There are many classic bear characters that you can read about for this theme day like Winnie the Pooh, Paddington Bear and Corduroy Bear or you can look for some of these picture book titles:

· Bare Bear, by Miriam Moss and illustrated by Mary McQuillan, Holiday House, 2005 – Busby the bear’s clothes are blown away in a storm and he must search for them making animal friends along the way.

· Bear Snores On, by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman, Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2002 – As a bear sleeps in his cave various animals enter it and little by little a party begins without bear. There are other books with the same characters and illustrations that are just as great like: Bear Wants More, Bear’s New Friend, and Bear Feels Scared.

· The Teddy Bear, by David McPhail, Henry Holt and Company, 2002 – In this beautiful story about compassion a boy loses his beloved teddy bear only to discover that it has been adopted by a homeless man who seems to love it as much as he does.

· The Teddy Bear’s Picnic, by Jimmy Kennedy and illustrated by Alexandra Day, Aladdin Paperbacks, 2000 – Two children disguise themselves as bears to join in the teddy bear picnic in the forest.

· We Are Bears, by Moly Grooms and Lucia Guarnotta, NorthWord Press, 2000 – This book tells the realistic story of two little bears following their mother out of their den for the first time using beautiful illustrations.

· We’re Going On a Bear Hunt, by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, Margaret K McElderry, 2009—This is a favourite of ours about a family who courageously decides to go on a bear hunt through a rhythmic pattern of places only to be scared upon finally meeting a bear and running back home through all the places they have already braved.

· Where’s My Teddy, by Jez Alborough, Candlewick Press, 1992 - In this cute rhyming book Eddie seeks his teddy Freddie in the woods but comes across a giant teddy that is owned by a giant bear.

· Who has time for Little Bear?, by Ursel Scheffler and illustrated by Ulises Wensell, Doubleday Book for young Readers, 1996 – This book was originally published in German. It is a sweet little story about a little bear who wants to play but his parents and other woodland animals are too busy so he wanders around until he finds another little bear.

Try to find some of these nonfiction/learning titles:

· Baby Bears, by Bobbie Kalman, Crabtree Publishing Company, 2008 - Full of lots of photographs and easy to read facts this is a good one for kids to learn about bears.

· Bears, by Patrick Merrick, The Child’s World, 2000 – This easy to read book examines what bears are, where they live and what they eat among other things.

· Endangered Bears, by Bobbie Kalman & Kylie Burns, Crabtree Publishing Company, 2007 – This has information on the eight types of bear in an easy to read format but with more detail.

· In the Wild: Bears, by Claire Robinson, Heinemann Interactive Library, 1997 – This is a good easy reader book about brown bears with photographs and easy to understand facts.

· Our Three Bears, by Ron Hirschi and photographs by Thomas D. Mangelsen, Boyds Mill Press, 2008 – This beautifully photographed book examines three north American bears: Black, grizzly and Polar in more detail.

If your child is more interested in Teddy Bears than real bears try these:

· Famous Bears & friends: One Hundred Years of Teddy bear stories, Poems, Songs and Heroics, written and collected by Janet Wyman Coleman, Dutton Children’s Books, 2002 – This book has an assortment of teddy bear related literature from the history of the first teddy bear as it relates to President Theodore Roosevelt, to the naming of Winnie the Pooh, there is much in this fiction and non-fiction book.

· The Legend of the Teddy Bear, by Frank Murphy and illustrated by Gijbert van Frankenhuysen, Sleeping Bear Press, 2000 – This book is about how the first stuffed bear (“Teddy’s Bear”) was inspired by President Theodore Roosevelt.

CRAFTS:

TOILET PAPER ROLL BEARS:

Materials: Empty toilet paper roll, brown paper, child safe scissors, pencil, markers or crayons, clear tape, glue-stick.

Step 1: Cut out a piece of brown paper to fit the toilet paper roll all the way around.

Step 2: have your child apply glue to the paper roll and then wrap the brown paper around the roll so it will stick.

Step 3: Apply a piece of clear tape along the seam of the brown paper to keep it from unrolling before the glue dries.

Step 4: You can either cut out a simple bear head out of brown paper (a circle with little ears) or have your child draw his/her own bear head to cut out.

Step 5: Have your child draw a face on the bear’s head.

Step 6: Using either glue or tape attach the bear’s head to the paper roll.

Step 7: Help your child cut out simple bear paws (a rounded rectangular/oval shape works) and then attach them to the bear (we found tape worked the best).

PAPER PLATE BEAR FACE:

Materials: Paper plate, crayons, buttons, ribbons, coloured paper, stapler, tape, white glue

Step 1: Have your child colour the paper plate whatever colour he/she wants the bear to be.

Step 2: Ask your child what colour he/she would like the ears to be and then cut out two simple rounded ear shapes (to make each one identical fold the paper and cut two at the same time). Staple the ears to the paper plate.

Step 3: Let your child use whatever craft supplies you have on hand to decorate the bear face. For instance you can use a pom-pom or a button as a nose or eyes, you can use googly craft eyes, pipe-cleaners can be shaped into mouths, or simply use crayons or markers to draw a face.

POM POM BEARS:

Materials: Various sized pom-poms (in whatever colour your child wants the bear to be). White glue, a piece of corrugated cardboard, small googly craft eyes.

Step 1: Have your child collect the various sizes of pom-poms to form a bear (biggest pom-pom as the tummy, medium one as a head, smaller ones as four legs, a different coloured one for the nose).

Step 2: Let your child glue the pom-poms to the piece of cardboard in the shape of a bear.

Step 3: Glue two googly craft eyes onto the face for the finishing touch and then allow it to dry fully before displaying.

TEDDY BEAR EARS:

Materials: Brown paper, stapler, child safe scissors, tape.

Step 1: Cut a strip of brown paper to fit around your child’s head. Shape it around his/her head and then pinch to hold together and remove from your child’s head. Keeping the strip pinched together you can now staple it to fit around your child’s head like a crown.

Step 2: Cut out two oval ears and staple or tape them to the brown head band.

Step 3: Let your child wear the ears. This is perfect for a Teddy Bear Picnic (see below).

FOOD:

SNACK:

A bowl of fresh berries would be a “beary” good snack as bears eat these in the wild.

Teddy bear graham crackers would fit this day perfectly.

Bears like honey so make some toast with honey

LUNCH:

Peanut Butter Bears or Cream Cheese Bears: (For a sweet lunch)

Ingredients: English muffin (one half per person), peanut butter or cream cheese (bananas, raisins or almonds, mini Oreo cookies.

Step 1: Toast English muffin halves.

Step 2: Spread peanut butter or cream cheese onto one half of a toasted English muffin.

Step 3:Place English muffin on a plate and arrange two round slices of bananas as the bear’s ears.

Step 4: Place a mini Oreo cookie in the middle as the bear’s nose.

Step 5: Place raisins or almonds on the bear’s face as eyes.

Step 6: Enjoy!

DINNER:

Bears eat a lot of fish so why not serve some up for this theme day.

DESSERT:

We found some cookies at the store called Bear Paws for our dessert.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

CHART:

Print out my Facts about Bears Worksheet and as a family read some non-fiction books about bears (see above for some book titles to consider) and then together fill out the chart.

WEBSITES:

This site has a lot of information about various types of bears including photographs: http://www.greatbear.org/bearspecies.htm

This site has information about bear species and a section on myths: http://www.bears.org/

This is an informative entry about Teddy Bears: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_bear

FOR FUN:

JOKES:

Q: What do you call a bear with no shoes?

A: Bear-footed.

Q: What do you call a bear that likes to go out in the rain?

A: A Drizzly Bear

Q: How do you start a bear’s race?

A: Ready, Teddy, go!

EXTENDED ACTIVITIES:

AUDIO VISUAL:

Search through your child’s DVD/ video collection (or visit your local library before hand or the Video Store) to find your child’s favourite shows with bears in them.

There are many shows featuring bears. Try to find some with these characters:

· The Berenstain Bears

· Winnie the Pooh

· Little Bear

· Corduroy the Bear

Here are some bear movies or movies with bears featuring in them:

· Brother Bear – (just a warning though, it is sad and my son refuses to watch it again because it was so sad).

· Jungle Book

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES:

Have a Teddy Bears Picnic. Pack a lunch or a snack, take a blanket and some teddy bears and go outside to a park or even your backyard or inside if it is too cold to go out.

FIELD TRIP:

Some communities have museums with Teddy bear collections in them, if you are lucky enough to be near one plan a family outing there for this theme day.

Go to the zoo to study the bears for this theme day.