2 1/2 years old

We're Going on a Bear Hunt - Sensory Trail

08:00

The lovely children's story book We're Going on a Bear Hunt is celebrating it's 25th anniversary! 



We're Going on a Bear Hunt is a fantastic story about going on an adventure together as a family, so what better way to read it than to go on our own sensory adventure in our backyard.  If you're not familiar with the book, the characters are going on a bear hunt and have to go through several obstacles to find the bear (then run back through them when they do!) 

While Ethan was napping I set everything up for him, so that the trail would be a bit of a surprise when he woke up.  I set up all the different stations around the back yard, and went through his Happyland people to find ones to represent our family.  There's a Daddy, a Mommy, a little boy (Ethan) and a baby in a pram (Ivy).  Together they go through the grass, the river, the mud, the forest, a snowstorm and a cave.


Through the grass
























Through the river
Through the mud
We started by reading the story together, Ethan, Ivy and I.  I asked Ethan to repeat back to me all the places they were going, and we made the sounds together (for each part of the journey there's a repeated sound or word, the grass goes, 'swishy, swashy', the river goes 'splashy, sploshy', etc)  The book itself has plenty of repetition, which made it very easy to read through and then basically have memorised so that we could tell it ourselves as we went to the different areas.  First we took the little family to the grass, then for the river I had set up the builders tray with water in it, and for the mud I just opened up the sandbox.  I was doing this activity quite simply with things that we already had, but some cornflour goop or other messy material would be fun for the mud as well.  Then we took the people under a tree for the forest, we blew bubbles on them for a snowstorm and we went through Ethan's play tunnel for the cave.

Through the forest
Through the snowstorm

Through the cave
Ethan was so excited to find the bear at the end of the cave! He crawled all the way through with his people, made them scream and wiggled his way backwards through the tunnel to the other side.  Then he took his people back through all of the other stations, into the house, up the stairs and under the covers of his bed!  He had so much fun bringing the story to life, and once we were done he went back outside with his people to make them do it all again, but this time without my help.  Then he just happily played in all of the different areas himself.  He really experienced the story on every level, and enjoyed himself thouroughly.  It is a fantastic story, and if you can take part with the reading lesson today, then please do.

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6 comments

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks :) Just had a quick look at your blog, it looks lovely, I'll have to take a better look after bedtime :)

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  2. I love reading this book to my chidlren. We often quote it while we are out on our own adventures. The way your activity has them act it out is fantastic! Love it!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, we really do love making stories come to life!

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