Every Winter we like to do some sort of hibernation project…in the past we have made a cave and put all our school teddy bears to sleep inside it until Spring, we have also gone to the park to collect “nuts” for our toy squirrels and stored them all up in our cardboard tree for the Winter time and last year we took turns “burrowing” our plastic frogs partially into mud. Hibernating aquatic frogs are partially buried in mud at the bottom of ponds during Winter months, making sure to keep themselves exposed to oxygen-rich water.

….and what are the children learning from this?…the experience is varied, at a basic level all the children are being opened up to the existence of the natural world around us…that nature, the weather and animals that exist, survive and thrive in quite miraculous ways!

For the older children who are interested in the actual facts behind the exercise, they are learning something new! This develops a curiosity and fascination for the world around us that inspires a true love of learning.

Have you listened to the Story “The Bear Snores On” yet? It’s Winter time so let’s put our bears to sleep.

ACTIVITY VARIATIONS:

If you have a teddy bear or 2 you can create a small cosy cave together and have your bear go to sleep for the Winter time.

If you have the space, why not make a cosy blanket fort and pretend to be the bears yourselves. Climb inside, read books, eat cinnamon popcorn just like in the story (see this week’s recipe suggestion). We have really enjoyed spending lots of time in our blanket den today!