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Teddy Bear Picnic Day

Between Lego and Star Wars and Lego Star Wars, the boys have been cooking up a storm on their grill for their Curious George monkeys, so when I saw that yesterday was Teddy Bear Picnic Day (who knew?) I figured we'd have an impromptu Bear theme.  Nothing major, just change up our routine a little.

Not that this is helpful for anyone now, but there is a Teddy Bear Day later this year (again, who knew?) and there's always next year.

Iron Man and I did our reading instruction as usual.  For math however, we're trying out a new program, and the next lesson was a coloring page.  As you may very well know, Elliott is not fond of coloring pages.  So to keep him semi-interested, we worked through the problems with the counting bears.

These were all dancing bears who had partners.  Or something like that... While Iron Man was using the counting bears, I set out a few different toy bears (from Toobs and other playsets) for Hulk.  He spent about half an hour growling, roaring, and talking about caves and a dragon. I also pulled out our U.S. Animals Flash Cards (Target $1 Spot) and we read about the Black Bear and Grizzly Bear. There is no bear more beloved than Winnie the Pooh, so for literature we started the second book, The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne. We also read Alphabears and Numbears, both by Kathleen Hague. Iron Man declined to do any traditional puzzles, but Hulk chose this one, which was way too easy for him. Both boys played briefly with our Melissa & Doug Wooden Bear Family Dress-Up Puzzle.  We also have a single bear puzzle that I bought several years ago at Target's $1 spot, but that only works for one kid. When I found the M&D puzzle last year at local discount store for an exceptional price, I knew we had to add it to our collection. Iron Man dressed each bear once, but Hulk spent most of his time examining the faces and making his own faces, so we talked about emotions. For our Teddy Bear Picnic Lunch, we had a slightly themed lunch. A bear shaped sandwich: one boy had meat and cheese, and one had peanut butter and blackberry jam. They enjoyed Berry Yummy Fruit since bears love berries.  The ants on a log were partially for the picnic tie-in, and because bears will rip open logs for grubs. Then jello, at their request. Nothing fancy by any means, but we haven't had a themed lunch in a really long time, so they enjoyed it.

We didn't do it this time, but our Polar Bear Dessert (from Polar Bear Math) was a huge hit last time! Oh, and did you know Black Bears are the ones common in national parks?  They're the ones most likely to raid your campsite!

Did you do anything for Teddy Bear Picnic Day, or do you have any general bear themes you want to share?

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Posted by Brittney Mom's Heart Labels: bear theme, in the kitchen, Kindergarten, teddy bear picnic Search Mom's Heart Teach Your Child about Electronics!