Our Homeschool Fun: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt

We went bear hunting this past week with Before Five in a Row. And, the best part? We actually found one! He had ‘one shiny wet nose, two big furry ears, two big goggly eyes’. It was a bear, and Jack was delighted to find his new, furry friend.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, by Michael Rosen, is one my favorite children’s books. I’ve known since I got my B4FIAR manual I wanted to row this book. I’ve been very excited to share it with Jack, and we both had a blast with it! Jack loved hearing the book each day, and more than just during our school time.

After we read the book on Day 1, I had an indoor bear hunt set-up. There was long, wavy grass (thanks to Hanna). White butcher paper from a large roll colored green by Hanna, Jack and Jesse; then, cut into wavy strips. A deep, cold river (blue blankets). I love that Jack carried his lantern the whole time. I thought that was sweet and imaginative. Thick, oozy mud (a large brown paper bag with brown, crayon mud spots). A big, dark forest (sticks from the yard in a vase). A swirling, whirling snow storm (coats, hats and scarves to wear in the cold). And, a narrow, gloomy cave (hideout under shelves, complete with a bear—a pillow pet.) Jack was so excited to find a ‘bear’ in the cave. He has been using an old pillow of Hanna’s on his bed since he moved from his crib. I thought a bear pillow pet would be a memorable way to remember this row and give him a special pillow for his bed. He loved it! We made thick, oozy mud with a swirling, whirling snowstorm and hidden bears for a treat. (Chocolate pudding, whipped cream and teddy bears. I thought it would be cute to pour the pudding up in the teddy bear muffin cups I have from our awesome Muffin Tin Mondays.) Jack felt the squelch, squerch of thick, oozy mud between his toes. After seeing the Yuck packs from, Michelle, at Delightful Learning, I knew I wanted to get some for this row. I’m glad I did—this was a big hit with Jack! And, I have to say, these packs are fun and really cool! Super easy and fast to mix up, and easy to clean up too. We used the Yuck snow…of course Jack had to drive a truck through the snow. Next up was the sticky Yuck. This was our thick,oozy mud. Definitely Jack’s favorite of the two. Jack loves to get his hands messy, so this was right up his alley. I think he would have played with this one as long as he possibly could. Joe, on the other hand, does not like messy hands and he was done as soon as he touched it with one fingertip :-). Jack did story sequencing cards: Completed bear coloring patterns and a ‘where do bears live’ notebooking activity. He did so good on each of these. He needed instructions only one time, and completed them without hesitation. I have no idea where Jack is at with anything school related, so finding out how much he knows, what he understands is all new to me and very exciting! I was happy when Jack told me he wanted to learn to write. I jumped on this immediately! I printed some pre-writing tracer pages from Homeschool Creations’ Bear Hunt B4FIAR Preschool Pack. He loved them! I put them in a page protector and gave him a dry erase marker. He did this over and over. I think part of the fun was using the eraser and the marker. He did such a good job. My super antsy Jack has much more of an attention span than I realized. I had Jack narrate the story and I typed it up for his Five in a Row lapjournal.

“We are going on a bear hunt. What a beautiful day. Oh no, a deep, cold river. Can we go through it? Splishy, splashy, splishy, splashy. Oh no, a forest. Trip, trip, trip. ‘I don’t remember it, Mommy. Oh, just one more part of it.’ Mud. Then, tiptoe, tiptoe. ‘I remember it!’ Oh no! A shiny, wet nose. Long, furry ears. It’s a bear! Oh no! Go downstairs, go upstairs, shut the door, go in the bedroom. ~Jack, 3 years and 5 months old~

We did a couple other activities from the book on comprehension and family members/family situations. This was a wonderful unit for both learning and having fun together. I’m hoping our Summer weather holds out through the end of September as it usually does so we will be able to row a couple more beach themed books.

I have one last picture I want to remember from our Bear Hunt week—my sweet Jack sleeping with his bear pillow.