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Winter Bears in the Snow

What do bears do in the winter? Students will explore various species of bears and create a cut or torn paper collage of a bear in the snow.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Circle Stamper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Read a book about bears in winter. Suggestions include "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle (which features collage illustrations), "A Polar Bear in the Snow" by Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris (which features torn-paper illustrations), and "Bear Snores On" by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman. Have children note the shapes used and the way snow is illustrated.

  • Step 2

    Explain that bears spend the winter in hibernation. That means they will fatten up during the autumn months. This fat will provide nutrition and hydration while they sleep. Black bears enter a lighter type of hibernation known as "torpor." That means they may occasionally wake up and move around their dens. Grizzly bears undergo a deep state of hibernation. And polar bears, who have adapted to the Arctic's extreme weather, do not hibernate but will isolate in a snowdrift den.

  • Step 3

    Ask children to create a collage that features a bear in a snow scene, either awake or hibernating in a den. They can create the background by cutting or tearing white paper and gluing it onto construction paper to resemble falling or fallen snow on the ground. Or they can use a circle-shaped stamper (such as recycled corks or small round sponges) dipped into white paint. To form the bear, they can cut or tear construction paper (white, black, or brown) based on the type of bear they learned about. Reinforce the geometry of the scene and creature by talking about ovals, rectangles, triangles, and circles which can be combined into a collage of the bear and its environment.

  • Step 4

    Have children present their collages and talk about some of the things they learned about bears.

Standards

MATH: Analyze, compare, create, and compose math ideas using written, oral, and drawn lines, shapes, forms, and patterns.

Adaptations

Have children learn about other animals that hibernate or enter torpor (a lighter type of hibernation). For example, groundhogs and wood frogs hibernate. Hummingbirds, bats, and mice use torpor.

Ask children to make up a story about a bear waking up after a long winter sleep. What is the first thing it would want to do? What would it eat? Who would it visit?