Hibernation - A Storytime Outline

Here in Texas we've hit winter early to the point of saying, "What happened to Fall?!?". So it was more than perfect for us to do a program on hibernation! I wanted to try to not have all hibernating bear stories, and didn't do too badly.

BOOKS
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons written and illus. by Il Sung Na
Some of the children brought up a good, little discussion about

Old Bear written and illus. by Kevin Henkes 
Such a nice book. I used flannel pieces for the children to put on the board so that they could be part of the story.

Time to Sleep written and illus. by Denise Fleming 
As the children said, "Silly animals!"

SONG & RHYME
Open, Shut Them
follow actions
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Lay them in your lap
Creep them, creep them up to your chin
Open your mouth wide, but don't put your fingers in!
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a big clap
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Lay them in your lap.

The Mitten in the Snow
The mitten in the snow
The mitten in the snow
Help us please so we won't freeze!
The mitten in the snow.

A mole squeezes in
A mole squeeze in
Help us please so we won't freeze!
The mitten in the snow.

A rabbit squeezes in
A rabbit squeezes in
Help us please so we won't freeze!
The mitten in the snow.

Continue with the other animals:
Hedgehog
Owl
Badger
Fox
Bear (yes, even a bear!)
Mouse

The bear says, "A-choo!"
The bear says, "A-choo!"
All the animals fly out of
The mitten in the snow!
Source: Mrs. Jones Room 

ACTIVITY
Freeze Dance
I had the children dance to one or two songs and every time the music stopped I asked if a certain animal hibernated or not.

FLANNEL BOARD
The Mitten in the Snow 
This flannel board was made ages ago for my Cool Winter Fun storytime.

Old Bear 
This flannel board was made together with a coworker for a Kevin Henkes storytime!

CRAFT
Paper Bag Cave 
I found this craft on the web via Pinterest (again!) a while back and I finally was able to do it! The children had a little difficulty understanding how to make the cave, but it worked out very well in the end! I found the clipart for the bear on The Mailbox and did a little computer magic to shrink the image a little. For the tree, I found it on Microsoft Publisher.

Paper Bag Cave craft, Family Storytime,
created by Dorothy, WPCC 2014.

MORE BOOKS
Bear Snores On written by Karma Wilson and illus. by Jane Chapman
Over and Under the Snow written by Kate Messner and illus. by Christopher Silas Neal
Ouch! written by Ragnhild Scamell and Michael Terry
Sleep Big Bear, Sleep! written by Maureen Wright and illus. by Will Hillenbrand