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Advantages:
-  Encourage student to learn through pretend play with character puppets.
-  Students can learn through play with the provided sequential natural scenes in the play tray.
-  The use of different textures of materials encourage students to learn through sensory exploration.

Disadvantages:
-  The round layout design of play tray may confuse the students between the starting point and end point of the story line.
-  Some of the materials used in the play tray may confuse younger students. For example, the use of blue glass beads to represent water may confuse the texture of river for students at age of 3-4 years old.

Suggestions:
-  A rectangular tray is recommended to be used as play tray in this activity so that the starting point and end point of the scenes are designed in a straight line instead of a cycle.
-  Water in container can be used to replace the blue glass beads, in order to represent the river scene in the story line.

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This is something I have been planning in my head for a while and I was looking for an excuse to make it a reality. I had the chance over the Bank Holiday weekend as the weather was rubbish and we had friends coming for dinner on Sunday with their little boy who is the same age as Monkey. I am a little disappointed that I didn't manage to get any photos of them actually playing with it.. but because of needing an adult to read the story it just didn't really work out!

This one did take a bit longer to put together than the other small world play set ups we have done but I think it was worth the effort. First I started with a Melissa and Doug Doorbell House and some little people for the characters from the story. For the swishy swashy grass I used a place mat! I was looking for artificial grass and came across the place setting which was a cheaper option. You could use real grass (probably a better sensory experience if I am honest) but I wasn't sure how long I was going to leave it out so opted for the fake kind.

I toyed with the idea of using real water for the deep dark river, but instead used blue cellophane with some glass beads in different shades of blue. I suspect the boys would have preferred water but I was trying to keep the mess to a minimum...

For the think oozy mud I used some chocolate gloop we had left over from Easter, its a fantastic substance made from only three ingredients, you can find the recipe here at pagingfunmums.com. I have never come across anything like it before and can see us making various different versions in the months to come.

Now the one which I really needed to think about was the big dark forest. I made trees in advance with pom poms I brought from HobbyCraft and some black straws. I used a glue gun to attach the two together. A word of warning it works better when the glue it not too hot that it melts the straws... otherwise you end up with lopsided pom poms! I stuck each one into some brown plasticine which I had rolled thinly for the forest floor. If time is not an issue then brown home made play dough would achieve the same thing and probably be better smelling.

A swirling whirling snowstorm was easy - fake snow from Christmas.. cotton wool balls would have the same effect. For the bear cave I used a piece of grey card stuck into some play dough. Around the cave I sprinkled some small sea shells. In addition to the above I used pebbles to divide some of the areas up and some fake bushes used in railway models... I saw them at Hobbycraft and thought they would come in handy at some point!

The boys loved it and couldn't wait to go and play which is always a nice feeling! They had great fun with the story. After, the snow became the point of fascination and hiding the bear in it initially and then fetching diggers from the play room to move the snow around, mixing it up with the gloop and the small shells. It was a lovely afternoon of play & giggles.

Heres the Door Bell House: (please note this is an affiliate link to Amazon)

If your little ones love the story then you can also find my Story Bag for Going on a Bear Hunt here. and we recently celebrated Monkey's 3rd Birthday with a themed Birthday party here. I also have a pinterest page for Going on a Bear Hunt

Mudpie xxx

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Going on a Bear Hunt Small World Play - mudpiefridays.com

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This is something I have been planning in my head for a while and I was looking for an excuse to make it a reality. I had the chance over the Bank Holiday weekend as the weather was rubbish and we had friends coming for dinner on Sunday with their little boy who is the same age as Monkey.

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Advantages:
-  The layout design of the messy play shows a clear direction and sequence of the story scenes for young students.
-  The use of different materials in play tray to represent each story scene, encourage students to explore on different sensory textures.
-  The written descriptive words next to each play tray enhance the learning of literacy skills.

Disadvantages:
-  The merely use of descriptive words on labeling the sounds make in each story scene may not be so useful and functional for students to practice in daily life.
-  The use of long white paper with written words on top, may not be reusable for the next learning activity, as the play may mess up the white paper and soils on the written words.

Suggestions:
-  Recommend the labels of written words to change into words like grass, river, mud, forest, snow and cave, to encourage the practical use of literacy skills in daily life.
- Use laminated written cards to place next to each play tray, so as the written words still can be read even it may be soiled during the messy play.

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We're going on a Bear Hunt, it's going to be a messy one...

So I mentioned before, how I'm always finding inspiration in our favourite bedtime stories. I love the idea of deepening a child's understanding of a story, using their playtime experiences to explore the concepts in what at first looks like a simple text. Ultimately we know children (and adults) learn better when their senses are engaged, which is why we point out pictures and put on funny voices when we're reading to them.

I decided to turn one of Vinnie's favourite books 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' by Michael Rosen into a sensory play session. The book is full of descriptive language...

...'long wavy grass' - I'm pretty sure my friends think I'm nuts when I ask if I can come round to borrow their paper shredder, then fill up a carrier bag with the shreddings!

...'a deep cold river' - I coloured some water blue, but as the container I used is brown (a recycled vegetable tray) I couldn't get a decent photo at all!

...'thick oozy mud' - I thought about this one for a long time, my first thought was playdough, but I used that in the next tray and I wanted to give Vin a completely new texture to explore. I played around with flour and paste and coffee grinds, but in the end I mixed up a batch of chocolate Angel Delight (similar to chocolate pudding in the US)

'a big dark forest' of twigs and leaves sunk into some brown playdough

'a narrow gloomy cave' - I had wild ideas of making a cave that Vin would actually have to reach into, but I couldn't pull it off as well as I'd envisaged. Instead we had a tray full of rocks and...

...'one shiny wet nose, two big furry ears, two big goggly eyes... it's a bear!'

here's his best 'uh-uh' face!

As I was setting up I kind of expected the contents of the trays probably wouldn't all stay where they were supposed to. What I was not expecting was the dumping of all of the trays into the water...

Interestingly the 'snow' absorbed all of the water and turned blue. Vin then tried looking for the water under the snow, which led to some science-y type conversations. We also got to talk about how the paper disintegrated and the sticks started getting mushy, but nothing happened to the rocks.

So we got to re-tell a bit of the story, before curiosity took over, but I love how this playtime went a completely different route and we got to talk about concepts I'd never have mentioned otherwise!

*ps since I wrote the original Fake Snow post a couple of people have mentioned the stuffing from nappies/diapers might be toxic. I did some research and couldn't find any conclusive argument either way. I spoke with a friend who is a biomedical research scientist, who said that old disposable nappies would have had toxic chemicals in, but that the eco-friendly compostible nappies I use would definitely not be toxic, unless the filling was consumed in large doses (he also mentioned that both oranges or bread can be toxic if consumed in large doses!) If you're still not keen you could crush up some icecubes in a blender or defrost your freezer like we did here.

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We're Going on a Bear Hunt Messy Play Style...

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We're going on a Bear Hunt, it's going to be a messy one... So I mentioned before, how I'm always finding inspiration in our favourite bedtime stories. I love the idea of deepening a child's understanding of a story, using their playtime experiences to explore the concepts in what at first looks like a simple text.

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Advantages:
-  The layout of story scene for the play box is designed in a straight line which allow students to have better understanding about the starting point and the end point of the story line.
-  The use of written words to label each story scene in the play box enhance the learning of literacy skills.

Disadvantages:
-  The use of materials in each story scene in the play box limit the sensory exploration
- The written words labelled in the play box are considered to be not age-appropriate for nursery students.

Suggestions:
-  Recommend the use of real long wavy grass, water in small container, mud and wooden sticks to encourage students' sensory exploration in the learning activity.
-  The written words labelled in the play box can be adapted into single words. For example, grass, river, mud, forest, snow and cave.

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We're Going on a Bear Hunt Classroom Display Photo - SparkleBox

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A super We're Going on a Bear Hunt classroom display photo contribution. Great ideas for your classroom!

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Advantages:
-  The use of sensory bags are convenient to be kept for reusable purpose.
-  Sensory bags allow students to explore the materials indoor without creating a mess in the classroom.
- Students-directed activity can be expected with the use of sensory bags, if provided proper instructions are given in advance.

Disadvantages:
-  The sensory bags used are small and only allows one student to explore through play at a time.
-  The sensory bags are sealed with tapes which will limit the real touch of sensory exploration during the learning activity.

Suggestions:
-  Use larger sensory bags for better sensory exploration and encourage peers interaction during the activity.
- Zip-lock bags can be used as sensory bags. It can be sealed for storage usage, and also able to be unsealed to allow students to direct touch on the real materials kept inside the sensory bags.

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For the past several weeks, Little Sis has been requesting "Going on a Bear Hunt" as one of her bedtime stories.

Since it's been pretty chilly outside, I put together some non-messy sensory bags to bring the story to life.
Sensory play doesn't always have to be messy!

{post may contain affiliate links to Amazon}.

Going on a Bear Hunt Sensory Activity

To prep for the activity, I gathered:

ziplock baggies

tape (I would highly recommend duct tape!)

different materials to go along with the book

For the long wavy grass, I picked some of the ornamental grass from our garden.

For the deep, cold river we colored some water blue.

For mud, we dug up dirt from the garden and added water to it.

For the snowstorm, we added some powdered sugar.

And for the forest, we picked up some broken twigs from the yard (and when I say "we," I mean I sent my son to gather them- Ha!)

Initially, I hung up the bags on the window, so baby brother could explore, too! He loved touching the bags.

Just make sure you double bag the mud and water ! Don't ask how I know ; )

I printed off an image of a bear from online and stuck him in a paper bag cave.

Are you ready to go on a bear hunt?!

More Before Five in a Row go-along activities for other books:

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no-mess going on a bear hunt sensory bags

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No-Mess Going on a Bear Hunt Sensory Bags

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For the past several weeks, Little Sis has been requesting "Going on a Bear Hunt " as one of her bedtime stories. Since it's been pretty chilly outside, I put together some non-messy sensory bags to bring the story to life. Sensory play doesn't always have to be messy!

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Advantages:
-  Sequence of each exploring places along the story line is provided.
- Different colours and textures (vertical/horizontal paper stripes, leaves shapes, foot print on mud, salt liked textures for snow area) are provided for sensory recognition on each exploring place.
-  Part of the rhymes in story line are included on the sensory board, allow students to read and recite the rhymes words accordingly.

Disadvantages:
-  Sensory explorations are limited for students to explore on a 2-dimensions textures board.
-  The written rhymes words on board are not age-appropriate for students at aged 3-4 years old.
-  The sequence of each exploring places are fixed, limit the flexibility of learning activity.

Suggestions:
-  Sensory explorations can be prepared with the use of real materials which can also encourage different hands exploration with fine motor skills.
-  To adapt the learning needs for students at the age 3-4 years old, written rhymes words can be changed into single word that represent the exploring place (e.g., grass, river, mud, forest, snow, cave).
-  Each exploring are can be designed to be detachable with velcro or magnetic stripes. To allow flexibility in learning activities such as encourage students to fit in the missing area with the written label as visual cues.

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Advantages:
-  Opportunities to discover different sensory exploration with real grass, mud, water and snowy foam.
-  Peer interactions can be encouraged as the trays used are large in surface.
- The sensory trays used are large enough to allow students explore the materials with their feet.

Disadvantages:
-  Activity shall be conducted in outdoor areas, to encourage better hands-on sensory explorations.
-  Materials can be difficult to be kept for next time usage.
-  Teacher's directions are required to guide children to understand the sensory exploration comes in sequence along the storyline.
-  The sensory exploration about the context of "forest" and "cave" are missing.

Suggestions:
-  Materials can be kept in ziplock bags for reusable purpose.
-  Materials in ziplock bag allows activities to be conducted in indoor area if necessary.
-  Visual cues like numeral labels next to each sensory trays allow the activity to be more prone to students' directed activity.
-  Add in sensory tray with tree branches and leaves to represent the context of "forest" and create an enclosed area to represent the context of "cave", so as to be more in depth of understanding along the story line.

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Big and Little is back... and this time we chose the theme Explorers. Before you read on head over to A Mom with a Lesson Plan to check out her awesome BIG backyard explorer dress up.Jillian and her kids have made some great props for their backyard adventures.go now, I'll wait.....

Now onto my little explorers sensory/pretend play set-up. I was inspired by the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury for this activity, where a family make their way through grass, water, mud and snow to find a bear.

So, early one morning while the kids were glued to the television I set up some LITTLE explorer fun. It was a total surprise to to them when they discovered four sensory stations (with a little challenge in each) set up outside:

1. A tray of GRASS clippings. The challenge: under the grass I drew 2 lines - one would lead to the next station and the other straight into the arms of a yellow monster arrrrrgh.....

2. A tub full of blue coloured WATER. The challenge: I placed a sea monster and some sharks in the tub, the kids would need to find some boats to get their figurines safely across.

3. A baking tin filled with MUD. The challenge: I placed a couple of 'poisonous' lizards in the mud, the girls would need some stones for their figurines to hop across.

4. A tray with a mountain of shaving foam as SNOW coloured with green food colouring. The challenge: find the treasure (gold coins) hidden in the mountain.

I asked the girls to pick out their favourite toy figurine and explained how this little game would work. Cakey has watched her fair share of Dora so she totally got it. Cakey started at the grassy forest and made her figurine take the challenge. Boo took one look at the whole set-up, dropped her figurine, ran around the grass, water and mud and dived straight into the shaving foam.

Cakey made her figurine go through the course over and over. I had to keep re-making the snow mountain as Boo kept destroying it before Cakey's figurines made it to the end.

Once the figurines were discarded the kids mixed all the ingredients together.... creating a lovely sensory mess!!

I hope you have enjoyed this month's Big and Little. If you want to see more about our Big and Little posts click here. If this is your first visit to At home with Ali - welcome. If you like it, you can follow along via email, RSS or facebook. You can also find me on Pinterest and Instagram. Cheers Ali

Linked to Mom's Library, The Sunday Showcase, The Kids Co-op and The Children's Bookshelf

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Big and Little..... Explorers sensory play

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Big and Little is back... and this time we chose the theme Explorers . Before you read on head over to A Mom with a Lesson Plan to check out her awesome BIG backyard explorer dress up .Jillian and her kids have made some great props for their backyard adventures.go now, I'll wait.....

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Story book "We are going on a bear hunt"

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Story book "We are going on a bear hunt"

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-  6 possible resource kits with their respective advantages and disadvantages.
-  Suggestions to adapt the possible resource kits to cater students at the age of 3-4 years old.