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advantages: not messy, sensory
disadvantages: only sensory, no reinforcing of the sequencing, or literacy and numeracy skills
how I would change it: include elements of literacy and numeracy (e.g. counting, words/letters, sequencing

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Going on a Bear Hunt Sensory Bags.  Visit pinterest.com/arktherapeutic for more #speechtherapy and #sensory ideas

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advantages: children can re-enact the story, words from the story are pasted prominently in the space
disadvantages: takes a lot of space, quite troublesome to set up
how I would change it: probably not a good idea (limited space)

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We're Going on a Bear Hunt role-play area.

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advantages: the child was involved in the building of the sensory tray by noting down the sequence and setting it up, reinforces the storyline, set-up in linear manner (sequencing)
disadvantages: facilitation required for the beginning part, more appropriate for older children?, small (only 1-2 children can play)
how I would change it: something that allows the children to play/set-up on their own?

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{this post contains affiliate links}

This week's book club book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, is a book that Miss G and I both knew, but not one we absolutely loved previously. Well, that changed this week. As soon as we watched the video of Michael Rosen performing his story, we couldn't get enough.

Such a fun story, right?! Sometimes hearing the rhythm of a story as the author intended it to be makes all the difference. {I feel the same way about some of the Pete the Cat books - knowing the tunes of all of the singsongy parts makes the books SO much better! Well, for my non-musical self, at least.}

After reading the story several times throughout the week, Miss G and I gathered some markers and some paper and set out to record all of the obstacles the family faced while on their hunt for a bear. Our plan was to then use the list to create a We're Going on a Bear Hunt sensory tray that would be perfect for pretend play and reenacting the story afterwards.

As I read, Miss G would stop me every couple of pages so we could add the next obstacle to our list. During the process, I modelled list making and beginning writing skills, she eagerly helped me with letter sounds and drew a quick picture to go with each word.

Here's what our list looked like when we'd finished reading the story. {The bear is my favourite, by far - hah!}

At this point, we were ready to begin creating our sensory tray, so Grae went and retrieved the free We're Going on a Bear Hunt puppets we'd printed and laminated a few days ago. When I originally thought of this activity, I envisioned us using a bear figurine and LEGO or DUPLO people for the family members, but the printable puppets from Early Learning HQ were too good not to use!

Then it was time to gather up materials to represent each of the nature obstacles the family had encountered on their adventure. We used things we already had on hand and came up with paper Easter grass for the grass, blue and aqua waterbeds for the river, some potting soil mixed with a teensy bit of water for the mud, miniature pine trees for the forest, cotton balls and white pompoms for the snow, and a piece of brown construction paper folded in half for the cave. We also retrieved some play dough to help hold things down where needed.

Then it was time to build our sensory tray! Truthfully, Miss G was able to do most of the building, with me sort of guiding how much space each of the 6 obstacles should take up on our tray.

The play dough was a huge help and we ended up using it under the grass, on the forest floor, and underneath the cave too.

The water beads, mud, and cotton were simply set in place without anything underneath.

Grae worked hard on putting her sensory tray together and especially loved adding some iridescent stars to the snow.

I helped her finish things off by shaping the construction paper into an arch shape and securing it in some play dough, and our final step was adding a little bit more grass outside of the cave to make everything look complete.

Using another chunk of our handy play dough, we placed our bear inside his cave.

Then Gracen double checked our work to make sure everything was in the correct order and we hadn't forgotten anything.

With her stamp of approval, our tray was ready for play!

She positioned the family members for the start of their adventure...

And then asked me to begin reading the book.

As I read, she used the characters to act out the story on the sensory tray.

She was having a total blast, but when we got to the part where they run home and climb into bed, she realized that we hadn't created a bed or a home for the family. Quick on our toes, I gathered some building planks to serve as walls, and she grabbed one of the beds from her bookshelf dollhouse.

Luckily, we made it just in time and our family members were all safely in bed before the big bear arrived. ;)

Afterwards, I asked if she would like the story read again, and she responded with, 'No. I just want to play now.' {Fair enough!}

And that's what she did. In fact, she's played with our sensory tray a ton since making it - sometimes acting out the story as it was written, and making up her own stories to go with the props other times. The only thing I'd say about the way we created our sensory tray is that the actual mud probably isn't the best option if you want to leave the tray out and use it again and again. We played with ours for a few days, but the mud does tend to get all over everything, so dark brown play dough may be a better mud option if you're looking for the activity to last.

Alright, with that... Ready for some other really fun We're Going on a Bear Hunt inspired activities? Check out what our friends came up with:

sensory collages | paper bag puppets | map & binoculars | edible bear puppets

Want to try a little preschool book club of your own? See the entire series here.

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We'd love to have you!

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We're Going on a Bear Hunt Sensory Tray - Mama.Papa.Bubba.

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this post contains affiliate links} This week's book club book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, is a book that Miss G and I both knew, but not one we absolutely loved previously. Well, that changed this week. As soon as we watched the video of Michael Rosen performing his story, we couldn't...

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advantages: children will enjoy having the binoculars to play with, fine motor (when making the map), sequencing, functional use of map
disadvantages: facilitation required for making the map, space required in the 'hunt' (e.g. trees in the yard, sand area) not practical in SG.
how I would change it: using the map to lay out the items and then role-play?

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We're Going on a Bear Hunt Map & Binoculars (with FREE Printable

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Here's a fun binocular and map craft inspired by the popular children's book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt! This kids' activity is a great way to bring the story 

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advantages: engaging for children (they can step/jump on it), can be used for counting, descriptive words and gross motor
disadvantages: facilitation needed for activities other than gross motor, might break easily, some materials might be dangerous (plastic might be slippery)
how I would change it: add some elements to it that children can do some literacy or numeracy independently

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Sensory Steps. Just glue plastic, wash clothes, make-up sponges, fur fabric, squishy wash netting, etc to cardboard. When it dries, cut around edges. Glue shelf liner on the other side. And you are done.  Enjoy hours of activities! Not sure if this would be something for your therapy room @Vicki Donoho

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advantages: sensory, children can move the people around
disadvantages: everything was set up in a circle (sequencing would be challenging if the children are not familiar with the story), small in size (only a couple of children can play at a time)
how I would change it: make it bigger so it can engage more children (encourage them to play together), change the set-up to make it easier to sequence

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March is National Reading month and to celebrate I created a We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Tuff Tray. It’s currently my Little Tots favourite book so I knew it wou