Watch Michael Rosen perform the Bear Hunt.
Ask the children what do they know about bears.
Here are 10 fun facts about bears.
There are eight species of bear: American black, polar, giant panda, Asiatic black, sloth bears, sun bears, spectacled bears and brown bears.
Bears are mammals. What other mammals do you know?
Bears can run at speeds up to 45km per hour
A male bear is known as a boar and a female is known as a sow. What other animals are known as boar and a sow?
Unlike many mammals, bears see in colour.
Grizzly bears can remember the faces of other bears they have not seen for 10 years or more.
Polar bears are the largest predators on earth. Do you know any other large predators?
Bears have an excellent sense of smell.
A group of bears is called a sloth.
Bears have great memories.
Tell the children that they are going on a bear hunt. Teach them the following chant.
We are going on a bear hunt, bear hunt, bear hunt.
We are going to catch a big one, big one, big one.
What a beautiful day.
We are not scared.
What do we need to go on a bear hunt? Ask the children what sort of things do they need to pack in their bags. Sunglasses, sun cream, binoculars, sandwiches, water etc. Go around the circle, eachchild gets an opportunity to mime putting an item in their bag.
When everyone is ready chant:
We are going on a bear hunt, bear hunt, bear hunt.
We are going to catch a big one, big one, big one.
What a beautiful day.
We are not scared.
What do we see?
Long tall grass, uh oh. What shall we do? Can we go under? Can we go over it? Oh no, we have to go through it? All the children push their through the grass. They push it out of the way. They help each other. They all say swishy swash, swishy swash, swishy swash as they go.
Finally everyone is out of the grass.
Everyone chants:
We are going on a bear hunt, bear hunt, bear hunt.
We are going to catch a big one, big one, big one.
What a beautiful day.
We are not scared.
What do we see?
A deep, cold river, uh oh. What shall we do? Can we go under it? Can we go over it? Oh no, we have to go through it? All the children jump into the river and start to swim. They all say splish splosh, splish splosh, splish, splosh as they go. They climb out of the river and continue their way.
Everyone chants:
We are going on a bear hunt, bear hunt, bear hunt.
We are going to catch a big one, big one, big one.
What a beautiful day.
We are not scared.
What do we see?
Thick oozy mud, uh oh. What shall we do? Can we go under it? Can we go over it? Oh no, we have to go through it? All the children walk through the mud. They get stuck and they help each other to get out of it. They all say squish squelch, squish squelch, squish squelch, as they go. Finally everyone is out of the mud and continue on their way.
Everyone chants:
We are going on a bear hunt, bear hunt, bear hunt.
We are going to catch a big one, big one, big one.
What a beautiful day.
We are not scared.
squish squelch,
What do we see?
A big, dark forest. , uh oh. What shall we do? Can we go under it? Can we go over it? Oh no, we have to go through it? All the children walk through the first slowly. They all say stumble trap. Stumble trip, stumble trip. They finally come out the other end of the forest and continue on their way.
Everyone chants:
We are going on a bear hunt, bear hunt, bear hunt.
We are going to catch a big one, big one, big one.
What a beautiful day.
We are not scared.
What do we see?
A swirling, twirling snowstorm. , uh oh. What shall we do? Can we go under it? Can we go over it? Oh no, we have to go through it? All the children huddle together and walk slowly through it . They all say woo hoo, woo hoo, woo hoo. Finally the snow storm stops and they stop holding on to each other. cone out the other end of the forest and continue on their way.
Everyone chants:
We are going on a bear hunt, bear hunt, bear hunt.
We are going to catch a big one, big one, big one.
What a beautiful day.
We are not scared.
What do we see?
A narrow, glumy cave, uh oh. What shall we do? Can we go under it? Can we go over it? Oh no, we have to go through it? All the children and walk slowly through the cave. It’s very dark so that can’t see anything. Everyone says tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe. What do we feel? One shiny wet nose, two big furry ears, two big bulgy eyes, and some very sharp teeth. Oh my goodness it’s a bear. Everyone run quick.
Tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe through the cave.
Woo hoo, woo hoo, woo hoo, through the snowstorm.
Stumble trip, stumble trip, stumble trip the forest.
squish squelch, squish squelch, squish squelch through the mud.
Spilsh splosh, splash splosh, splosh splosh through the river.
Swish swish, swish swish, swish swish through the grass.
Finally we get to our house. We open the door. Lock all the windows and doors. Run upstairs and hid under the bed.
We are never going on a bear hunt again.
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