Grumpy Grizzlies!

A while back, one of our friends brought in a birthday book to share with us, and it was non-fiction text on bears. Bears have weaved their way in and out of our days, and sit quietly with us in the reading centre.

More recently we have been reading stories about what bears do in various seasons, and singing/playing our song, "Grumpy Grizzly". Bears have also made their way onto the carpet for small world play.

 

Recently, we got on board with other classes who had planned a pyjama day. The children asked if they could bring in a stuffed animal too. Hmm. Opportunity knocked, and we welcomed their bears to come to school. We read a story titled: O'Reilly and the Real Bears, written by Dorothy Butler. It is a story about a stuffed bear who is dressed in clothing, and wants to know what it's like to be a "real" bear. He goes out in the woods and is taken in by a family of bears. He climbs trees and sleeps in a cave on a mattress of rocks. In the end, he misses his boy and returns home. He ditches the clothes and decides that a bit of exercise is good. 

We asked the children:

 

What would your bear learn if it went into the woods to be a "real" bear for a while?

 

Lots of ideas were shared:

 

"They'd eat berries."

"He would catch fish."

"They'd scratch a tree."

"He would growl."

"They would learn to hibernate."

"They'd learn to sleep on a bed of rocks."

 

 While the children were at gym, we got to work and transformed the classroom and relocated some bears.

 

 

 

 

The children were thrilled with the surprise, and created more bear caves of their own using sheets, shower curtains, blankets, and tunnels we borrowed from each of the other kindergarten classes. Tremendous fun! Some bears were learning to hibernate and slowing their heart rate! Some of the mama bears were getting ready to have cubs of their own!

 

And at the atelier, the children wanted to make more bear caves. We scrounged around and grabbed some supplies from the science centre and cupboard.

 

Pieces of moss, pine cones, twigs, leaves and milk weed adorned the pages to create a winter scene and den for a bear to hibernate in. In a box of odd and ends, I found a chunk of faux fur. The "bears" snuggled in for their long winter rest. No doubt, after such a busy and exciting day, the teddy bears and their keepers had a good rest of their of own at home.

 

Thanks for dropping by the atelier.