We're Going on a Bear Hunt!

Something y'all probably didn't know, July 10th is National Teddy Bear Picnic day!  A teddy bear picnic is exactly what it sounds like...a picnic with your teddy bears! We decided to do our own version of it, and actually go on a bear hunt. We read We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. 

To hunt for the bear, you have to travel through grass, a river, mud, forest, snowstorm, and then finally the CAVE!!! I thought it would be so fun for the children to actually find a "cave" that had a big bear in it.  I hid the cave in a darker hallway, and none of the kids seemed to notice it! That was my whole purpose, because I wanted it to be a surprise.  I made the cave out of a small side table and a large piece of black material that covered it.  I also happened to have some brown furry material that I used for the bottom of the cave, and I also taped large bear prints to the ground leading up to the cave.

Inside I hid a large "momma bear" and behind her, many little teddy bears that were generously hand-made and donated to United Way. The children actually got to keep them and take home.  They LOVED it! They were so excited to find them--its was like Christmas morning!

Next, our craft was making teddy bear puppets.  These are made with brown paper lunch sacks, coloring template for the bears' head and body,  which the kids then color, cut, and glue to the paper bag.
Here is what the teddy bears head looks like:

http://www.first-school.ws/t/bagbear1.html

And this is what the body looks like:

http://www.first-school.ws/t/bagbear2.html
The kids and parents thought this was such a fun activity.  It also inspired one of our moms to take her girls on a real teddy bear picnic after playgroup! This is just one of the many fun things you can do to alleviate some of the boredom that sometimes happens in the summertime. Trust me, kids would rather do something like this than watch their t.v. shows!