Activities

After reading Bear In a Square by Stella Blackstone the children will glue a variety of shapes onto paper, putting shapes together to form new shapes.

Make goop ahead of time. Mix one part cornstarch and one part water in a large sensory tub. Add counting bears. Place in the sensory center and encourage the children to rescue the bears from the sticky mud.

After reading Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead, provide the children with pictures of the animals from the story and encourage them to use the pictures to retell the story.

Make bear snacks for a nature walk (honey combs cereal, chocolate chips, raisins, pretzels and dried fruit) during outdoor time. Sing “Going on a Bear Hunt” as you are going through the “woods.

Give a small group of children a small plastic bowl and a collection of counting bears. Use a large spinner to select numbers one through five. Spin the spinner and call out the number.

Read the story "Goldilocks and The Three Bears." Give the children three stuffed bears and help them place them in order from smallest to largest. Give the children another animal, also in three different sizes.

Set up a beauty salon and a barber shop in the dramatic play area. Create a menu of available services with pictures. Encourage the children to write down or draw a picture of what services they would like.

Each day, quietly play a CD such as “Bedtime Beethoven” in the nap area for infants who are sleeping. Play the same CD over many days so the infants consistently hear the same music that indicates naptime.

After all the children have eaten lunch and are ready to nap, turn down the lights slightly.

During outdoor time, teach the children to play Freeze Tag. In this variation, to become unfrozen, the child will need to name two words that begin with the same sound.

Choose a piece of art, such as a painting or sculpture, and give the children quiet time to look at it before talking about it. Maybe take a few moments for the children to name several things they see in the artwork.

Give each child a beanbag or small stuffed animal. Choose one child to give directions to the group. Encourage them to use a variety of positional words. “Put your beanbag under your chin. Put your beanbag beside your chair.

With toddlers that show interest, read Where Is Baby's Belly Button? A Lift-the-Flap Book by Karen Katz. Ask them to show you their belly buttons, eyes and hands along with the book.

Lay the infant on a blanket or other soft surface. Take the infant's legs and bend them gently so the knees come close to the stomach. Stretch the legs out again.

Provide toddler-size and matching infant-size clothing, such as shirts and socks. As the child picks up an item, describe it. Say, “You found the big sock. Let's find the little sock. Here it is! You have the big sock. I have the little sock.

Read a large board book with simple pictures. Encourage the children to point to the pictures and label them. You could start with My Big Animal Book by Roger Priddy.

Have the children lie on their tummy on a large piece of butcher paper, with a crayon in each hand. Play music and have them move their arms back and forth to color the paper as the music plays. When the music stops have them switch crayon color.

In addition to the assortment of blocks and stacking toys, place a large cardboard box in the classroom for a few days. Encourage the infants to explore by crawling or sitting inside the box. Comment on what they are doing.

Set up a laundry basket or big box as a target for the children to toss beanbags. Use tape or a sign on the floor to indicate where the children should stand when they toss their beanbags.

Gather cardboard containers in several sizes for children to engage with while outside.  You might also read Antoinette Portis's Not a Box to jump start children's imaginations.