Winter Animals: Activities and Songs!

Baby Polar Bear Song
tune: Baby Bumblebee

I’m swimming with a baby polar bear,

Hear my mommy shout, "watch out, beware!”

I’m swimming with a baby polar bear,

(Swim in a designated space without touching anyone else)

Ouch! It tripped me!
(freeze and touch the ground)


I’m running with a baby polar bear,

Hear my mommy shout, "watch out, beware!”

I’m running with a baby polar bear,

(Run in a designated space without touching anyone else)

Ouch! It tripped me!

(freeze and touch the ground)

I’m jumping with a baby polar bear,

Hear my mommy shout, "watch out, beware!”

I’m jumping with a baby polar bear,

(Jump in a designated space without touching anyone else)

Ouch! It tripped me!

(freeze and touch the ground)

I’m sleeping with a baby polar bear,

Hear my mommy shout, "watch out, beware!”

I’m sleeping with a baby polar bear,

(Yawn, stretch and walk to the middle)

Now my mommy won’t be mad at me!

(All cuddle together to sleep)

Polar Bear Ice Game

Information:

Polar bears loom large on the ice cold tundra, with some males reaching 10 feet tall when standing upright. This animal is classified as a threatened species. Polar bears do not hibernate like other bears. However, females build dens to give birth and “hole up” with their newborn cubs. During this time, their bodily functions slow down in a process scientists call “winter sleep,” but the bears can be easily awakened. Polar bears eat an almost exclusively carnivorous diet of seals. They enjoy a semi-aquatic lifestyle, and have the largest home range of any land mammal. Living in the tundra, polar bears have 2-4 inches of blubber (from your thumb to your

index finger) to keep them from starving and to keep them warm. The blubber also helps them float in the water. Their fur is made of clear hollow tubes, which stick together when wet, and are waterproof. Their skin is black, which absorbs the heat of the sun. Beware, polar bears will attack humans.

*Create 8 irregular chunks of sea ice out of poster board to jump on. On one side, write a yes or no polar bear statement. On the other side write yes or no accordingly like the following:

Polar bears live in the cold tundra. YES

Polar bears hibernate like other bears. NO

Females “hole up” with their cubs and are easily awakened. YES

Polar bears are great swimmers. YES

The polar bear’s blubber makes them sink. NO

 Blubber helps them float.

The polar bear’s skin is white, which absorbs the heat of the sun. NO

Their skin is black, absorbs the heat of the sun and keeps them warm.

Polar bears might attack humans. YES

Polar bears are a threatened species. YES

*Create a seal out of poster board.

*Line the ice up in a zigzag fashion with the statement visible. Put the seal at the end of

the line.

*If the child answers correctly they get to jump on the ice chunks until they reach the

seal and have supper.

*If they can’t answer the question they go to the end of the line and try again.

*If the answer is NO and they can correct the answer they get to jump two ice chunks!

*To vary the game, have the children hop or jump backwards.

*If you have an adult helper, split the class into two equal teams. The team who gets all

their members to the seal first wins.

SNOWFLAKE STREAMERS

Each child cuts 4 small snowflakes from folded paper. Staple (4) 12” lengths of ribbon

onto the top of a 6” dowel or straw. Staple a paper snowflake on the end of each ribbon. Use these snowflakes for the following song. 

 Winter Snow Song

Tune:
Wheels on the Bus

The snow from the clouds falls down on me,

(lift snowflakes up and down)

down on me, down on me,

The snow from the clouds falls down on me,
All around the town.
Verses:
The snow in the air whirls all around

(turn around)

The snow on the ground goes swish, swish, swish

(move flakes side to side)

The kids in the street jump in the snow,

(jump)

The kids in the street slide in the snow
(slide)


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TWO WINTER POEMS by Robert Louis Stevenson

Picture Books in Winter
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Summer fading, winter comes--
Frosty mornings, tingling thumbs,
Window robins, winter rooks,
And the picture story-books.

Water now is turned to stone
Nurse and I can walk upon;
Still we find the flowing brooks
In the picture story-books.

All the pretty things put by,
Wait upon the children's eye,
Sheep and shepherds, trees and crooks,
In the picture story-books.

We may see how all things are
Seas and cities, near and far,
And the flying fairies' looks,
In the picture story-books.

How am I to sing your praise,
Happy chimney-corner days,
Sitting safe in nursery nooks,
Reading picture story-books.

Just click on the Christmas tree puzzle to enlarge and then copy it.



Winter-Time
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding cake.

Use this jigsaw template for any winter picture. Just click on the image to enlarge and copy. Have fun!

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SNOWFLAKE PEOPLE PUPPETS RECITE POEMS!

Jane Yolen's book, "Snow, Snow: Winter Poems for Children", is rich with short, easy to recite poems about the snow. Beautiful color photographs capture the different moods of snow presented in different locations. This entire book is a work of art, as the layouts vary to add variety to the mostly white images and black text and the poems so perfectly express the picture they are pared with.

Make snowflake people puppets to recite one of Ms.Yolen’s short winter poems. Or after reading the book of winter poems, go out and take snow pictures of your own. Create your own short poem and have your snow puppet recite it to the class.

Make your puppet by first making both large and small snow flakes. Cut out and color a simple boy template with legs wide apart and a girl template wearing a skirt. Use the large snowflakes for the legs and skirt, and use the small snowflakes as hands and hair. Put the puppet on a twig or stick and you’re ready for a puppet poem recital.


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