Introduction
In this video I go over the activities that I am planning and prepping for the Hibernation preschool theme. This all works great for a mixed age group and is based off of a play-based and Montessori inspired learning program.
Here are the links to the free printable materials that I have featured.
The bear images, bear cave signs, bear mask and little bears for the cave craft can all be found here as a free resource in my teachers pay teachers store.
www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hibernation-Packet-9012285
Classic teddy bear template
www.clipartbest.com/clipart-niEarMxiA
Bear template for the scruffy bear painting will be found at the bottom of this page
teaching2and3yearolds.com/winter-bear-art-for-toddlers/
Bear props
teaching2and3yearolds.com/printable-bear-circle-time-prop/
Brown Bear, Brown Bear mini book
teaching2and3yearolds.com/brown-bear-brown-bear-what-do-you-see-printable-book-for-preschoolers/
Free bear coloring pages
teaching2and3yearolds.com/bear-theme-color-pages-free/
Free color match bear caves
teaching2and3yearolds.com/best-preschool-hibernation-activities/
Here is the link to the brown bear packet with the story props and coloring pages
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Small woodland animals that I will use in the play dough
Bear counters, assorted sizes
Small bear figures came in these sets
Books
Content
Thank you, and just like that, we're halfway through January and it's time to get some planning done, I'm going to be starting the animals in Winter and hibernation theme.
So I've got some activities here and I'll just go over everything that I have so far I've made some nice images for the wall.
I can put the link for those below if you'd like them.
Just some nice bears and some things for the kids to look at and to have a little bit of change of scenery, then also in my dramatic play, we're going to be setting up a bear's den I've made a couple cute little signs here go ahead and grab those for yourself if you like, I'm, just basically making a tent out of some blankets, so nothing fancy and then for the Play-Doh.
I still have my white Play-Doh but I'm going to add all these little kind of like woodland animals and then I thought it'd be fun to work with these cards.
While we play with the Play-Doh they're just cards where you match the animals with the prints that they make in the snow, so they can make little prints in the Play-Doh with the toy animals.
While we look at the images and match those cards first Circle time, I've made some little bare Circle time props.
Here, because we are going to be doing an action song called We're Going on a Bear Hunt.
You can find that song very easily and it's just really fun.
It gets the kids moving so they'll have these little bear props to hold, and then I have these larger signs that I can to use as props as well.
So I have a whole bunch of stuff that I'll be using for The.
Writing Center just have a nice coloring page, but these two are freebie ones.
This cute bear, and then this cave and then also these ones that came in the brown Bear Brown Bear packet from teaching two and three-year-olds, and every single animal here has a coloring sheet and then there's this nice one that has all the animals together and then, with on the table, tops I.
Have these little bear manipulatives and they're all shapes and sizes, and then they come in different colors.
So we can do a lot of sorting with those other matching and then also of these cave printables that they can match up with.
I also have have these just little.
Bear figurines, I, think I'm going to put those in the sensory bin, maybe just with my tree blocks and maybe a filler like brown, rice or something the books.
We're going to be reading are bear snores on animals in Winter and this National Geographic book sleep bear sleep over and under the snow, and then we have.
Of course the brown bear brown bear.
What do you see book by Eric Carl and then these cute props that we can do along with that and use as story props and then I? Also have this little freebie mini book that goes along with the brown bear brown bear.
What do you see and each page has the animal with a different color, so I think what I'll do is.
I will put one page out a day with that colored crayon for them to color, then I will keep those for the children and then, when those are all done, I'll staple them together and make a nice little book, and then that way we make sure that all the little colors are matching on the book and they have a nice little color book to be taking her to read with their family I.
Have these little bear wood cuts that I've been saving, and so those will be fun to paint of course, and put a magnet on the back.
Also, with this book bear snores on we're going to make this little bear template and cut it out, and then I'll have the kids painting that with some of the tempura sticks, and then we can glue some buttons, maybe collage some other pieces on and I even have some different little sleeping eyes here.
Maybe they can glue on eyes on their bear and then, when that's all done there, they can pick out a piece of felt, and this is going to be their Bear's blanket, so they can put their bear to bed.
This will be a lot of fun kind of just something to make and play with and reenact the story that we are reading with this activity.
We are going to make some bristly bears by taking.
This is just basically a kitchen scrubber.
Any scrubber will do and dipping that in brown paint and they can make a nice bristly bear, make his for all tufty and ready for winter, with the brown paint and that kitchen scrubber and then once that's done, we'll cut those Bears out once they're dry and glue them onto the blue sheet of paper.
So this will be a two day project or a two-part project.
Once that's done, they can go ahead and put some of these snowflake stickers on.
In the background, this is going to be a bear puppet.
So, just basically a brown paper bag will just help the children glue this round circle on there and then it's going to get some little circle ears as well.
You can put this mouth on here, or just a nose or simply just put in some google eyes.
Maybe a Pom-Pom nose or even just a black DOT sticker would be really nice for the nose as well put a link for that Circle template for this cute bear puppet.
Those are always really fun.
This one is going to be a bear.
Mask I've found that children really don't like those masks with the strings tying around their head.
They just don't work out super great, so this is going to be the kind of mask that you would put on a large jumbo popsicle stick like this, and then you can even go ahead and cut around the eyes so that the children can see through it.
But before we do that, I will let them sponge paint.
These masks with some paint, maybe even some paint any color that they like they'll dip.
These little different shaped sponges that I have cut out of a regular kitchen, sponge and um, and sponge paint these Bears before we turn them into masks, and then this project we will be making some bear caves.
So I've basically made a little cave out of these plain paper bowls, and then we will probably just glue that onto a paper plate like this, and they can paint that whole thing Brown.
We could stretch some of these cotton balls out and make it so there's like snow on top and if you have a little toy bear or a Pom-Pom that would work.
I made a little print out of these small sleeping bears and I printed it onto some brown cardstock and cut those out, and this is the a little bear that they can play with to go in and out of their cave, I think they're, cute and I think the kids will have fun with that.
I hope I hope this helps I hope this gives you some good ideas and some inspiration for the hibernation theme make sure to stay tuned because I will be posting a video within the next week, or so the kids, interacting and playing with these materials and doing these crafts so make sure to subscribe.
So you don't miss out.
FAQs
Plan with me! Hibernation theme// preschool learning? ›
Another great way to teach hibernation to preschoolers is to read the story Bear Snores On and then have them create their own bear cave pictures. They will have so much fun coloring and gluing on cotton balls that they won't even realize they are learning.
How do you teach preschoolers about hibernation? ›Another great way to teach hibernation to preschoolers is to read the story Bear Snores On and then have them create their own bear cave pictures. They will have so much fun coloring and gluing on cotton balls that they won't even realize they are learning.
What is the hibernation game for preschoolers? ›Hibernation Game
Explain to the children that while the music is playing the animals(them) are awake and looking for food. When the music stops it is winter and time to find a spot to sleep (carpet square). As the days go on and the children know more animals you can ask them what animal they are when they sleep.
When animals hibernate, they aren't sleeping. When the weather is cold and food is in short supply, animals like hedgehogs, bears and bats become inactive to save energy. During hibernation their heart rates and breathing slow down, and their body temperature drops.
Why do animals hibernate preschool? ›Animals hibernate to survive the winter season, when the weather is cold and food is scarce. To prepare, animals might search for, eat, and/or store extra food in the fall. Their fur also thickens to keep them warm.
What are 5 examples of hibernation? ›Which animals hibernate? Small mammals, such as chipmunks, dormice, hamsters, hedgehogs and bats. Also, many insects, amphibians and reptiles.
What is hibernation in simple words? ›Hibernation is when an animal slows its heart rate to save energy and survive the winter without eating much. Some animals just slow down and move less frequently during hibernation, but others go into a deep sleep and don't wake up till spring.
What is hibernation game? ›Gross motor hibernation game. Children pick an animal to be (bears or bats) and when the children hear “winters coming” they must find a den (under a table) or a cave to hang from their toes.
How does hibernation work kids? ›Hibernation is when animals have long periods of deep sleep during winter. Their metabolism, or the rate the body burns calories, slows down to save energy. Their breathing and heart rate also slow down to save energy and their temperatures also drop during hibernation.
What is an example of hibernation? ›For example, the female polar bear goes into hibernation during the cold winter months to give birth to her offspring. She loses 15–27% of her pre-hibernation weight and uses stored fats for energy during times of food scarcity, or hibernation.
What are 3 facts about hibernating bears? ›
They lower their body temperature 8-12 degrees, and they break down fat stores for energy. Some protein is used as well, but bears largely conserve their muscle mass and thus do not become appreciably weaker during hibernation. Bears do wake up, however, and move around inside the den.
What are 3 things that happen to animals when they hibernate? ›When hibernating, an animal's metabolism slows significantly: its heartbeat slows, it breathes more slowly (some animals even stop breathing for periods of over an hour) and its body temperature drops—in some extreme cases to below the freezing point of water (zero degrees Celsius).
What animals hibernate in the winter preschool? ›- Bears- While we always say that bears hibernate, they actually are in a state of torpor. This means that they are asleep, but will wake up to loud noises or other disturbances. ...
- Snakes.
- Skunks.
- Raccoons.
- Bats.
- Bees.
- Hedgehogs.
- Chipmunks.
Hibernating animals slow their metabolisms, cooling their bodies by 5° to 10°C (9° to 18°F). Arctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus parryii) can take this much further, cooling their bodies to subfreezing temperatures.
What are the 4 stages of hibernation? ›Field and laboratory observations of behavior of black and grizzly bears have indicated that they pass through 4 annual biochemical and phys- iological stages. These have been designated as Stage I-hibernation, Stage II-walking hiberna- tion, Stage III1-normal activity, and Stage IV- hyperphagia (Nelson et al.
What are the three types of hibernation? ›There are three types of hibernation – true hibernation, brumation and torpor.
What animals sleep during hibernation? ›Bears are the animals most known for hibernating, but they aren't the only ones. Turtles, snakes, wood frogs, and groundhogs are other animals that engage in some form of hibernation, torpor, or estivation. Take a look at some of the animals that like to hide until spring arrives.
What is hibernation and two examples? ›Hibernation is a type of deep sleep some animals (like bears) go into during winter. Hibernation is like a long nap. Have you ever wanted to skip from fall to spring? Some animals do just that by hibernating, which is a sleep-like state during which their metabolism slows and they conserve energy.
What is the process of hibernation? ›Hibernation is a state of inactivity, in which an animal's heart rate, body temperature, and breathing rate are decreased in order to conserve energy through the cold months of winter. A similar state, known as estivation, occurs in some desert animals during the dry months of summer.
Why do we hibernate? ›Animals safely lower their blood pressure, body temperature, breathing, and other processes through natural hibernation. Hibernation could help humans survive life threatening emergencies like heart attack, stroke, and blood loss.
How do I start hibernation? ›
- Open power options—select Start , then select Control Panel > System and Security > Power Options.
- Select Choose what the power button does, and then select Change settings that are currently unavailable. Under Shutdown settings, select the Hibernate checkbox (if it's available), and then select Save changes.
Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most commonly occurs during winter months.
Do animals awake during hibernation? ›One misconception about hibernation is that animals do not wake while hibernating. They do wake up, but how and how often they do depends on whether they are true hibernators or light sleep hibernators, Russell said.
Where do animals hibernate? ›Animals may find winter shelter in holes in trees or logs, under rocks or leaves, or underground. Some mice even build tunnels through the snow. To try to stay warm, animals like squirrels and mice may huddle close together.
How do you use hibernate in a sentence for kids? ›After these well-meaning moments they are left alone to hibernate with their own devastation. The insects frequently hibernate in warmed houses, and may bite during the winter. It is thought that kangaroo rats do not hibernate but remain more or less active throughout the winter.
What are two animals that hibernate? ›There are several animals that hibernate– skunks, bees, snakes, and groundhogs to name a few– but bears and bats are the most well-known. Bears enter their dens for hibernation based on changes in the weather.
What are some simple facts about hibernation? ›Hibernation is a state of extreme inactivity. When in hibernation, the animal slows their heart rate to survive the cold winter temperatures and lack of food. Unlike sleep, this involves quite extreme physiological changes, including lower body temperature and metabolism reduced to 5% of its normal rate.