Thursday, December 7, 2017

Storytime: Hibernation

Books

Old Bear by Kevin Henkes
Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming
Sleep Bear! by Shelby Alinsky
Hibernation by Margaret Hall

This was a really fun theme and a great one for including some nonfiction titles. There are a lot of fantastic books related to hibernation. As you can tell by the covers, most of them feature bears, but Time to Sleep, Hibernation Station, and Hibernation all talk about other animals that hibernate as well. I love Old Bear. It's a sweet story and the illustrations are so lovely!

For extension activities click read more!

Songs and Rhymes

Action Song: “Sleepy Bear”

(Tune: Where is Thumbkin)

Where is Bear? Where is Bear?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you this winter?
Very tired, thank you.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep.

Source: Preschool Education

This works great with a puppet! Repeat as many times as you want with puppets of different animals who hibernate during the winter. I had a bear, squirrel, bat, turtle, frog, and mouse.

Action Song: “Hibernation Song”

(Tune: Wheels on the Bus)

The weather's getting cold so bundle up, bundle up, bundle up!  (rub arms)
The weather's getting cold so bundle up, winter's coming soon!

Verses:
The bears in the cave sleep all the time, all the time, all the time!  (sleep on hands)
The squirrels in the trees get lots of nuts, lots of nuts, lots of nuts!  (rake up nuts with hands)
The frogs and the toads go deep in the mud, deep in the mud, deep in the mud  (hop like frogs)
The ducks and the geese fly down south, fly down south, fly down south!  (flap arms)
The people in the town wear hats and gloves, hats and gloves, hats and gloves  (pat head, put on gloves)

Action/Transition Rhyme:

Brown bear, brown bear, turn around.
Brown bear, brown bear, touch the ground.
Brown bear, brown bear, reach up high.
Brown bear, brown bear, touch the sky.
Brown bear, brown bear, bend down low.
Brown bear, brown bear, touch your toe.
Brown bear, brown bear, softly creep.
Brown bear, brown bear, go to sleep!

Source: Modified from Storytimes and More

Flannelboards and Fingerplays



Flannelboard: “Bear in the Lair”
“Sleepy bear, sleepy bear, are you in the (color) lair?”

Source: Written by me!

I’m honestly surprised I haven’t seen anyone else do a “Mouse in the House” variation for a hibernation storytime. It seemed like the perfect fit to me!

Fingerplay: “Here is a Cave”

Here is a cave. Inside is a bear. (bend fingers on one hand; put thumb inside)
Now he comes out to get some fresh air. (pop out thumb)
He stays out all summer in sunshine and heat.
He hunts in the forest for berries to eat. (move thumb in a circle)
When snow starts to fall, he hurries inside
His warm little cave and there he will hide. (put thumb inside fingers)
Snow covers the cave like a fluffy white rug.
Inside the bear sleeps all cozy and snug. (place one hand over the other)

Source: King County Library System

Craft

We made bear caves from paper plates and construction paper. I printed out these cute sleeping bears at 80% size for the kids to color and put in their caves! I was hesitant about bringing out the glitter for this, but thankfully it was a small group of kids today so it was easy for caregivers to help with the messier parts of the craft!




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