A Long Winter’s Nap Lesson Plan
What We Are Learning
Science Focus:
hibernation
Theme Vocabulary:
winter, dormice, hibernate, hedgehog, snoozing, dozing, tortoise, slumbering, toad, resting, dreaming
Skills We’re Practicing:
group discussion, read-aloud comprehension, concepts of print, critical thinking, vocabulary, number recognition
- Harold Hates to Hibernate by Vern Kousky is a story about a bear named Harold who does not want to hibernate. His best friends—the crows—try to help him. As you read, ask children to notice all the things Harold does to prepare for a long winter’s nap.
Materials: pieces of brown and/or black pipe cleaners; googly eyes; brown play dough; number cubes)
- Help students strengthen their counting skills with this fun hibernation-themed game.
- Have children work in pairs to create a hedgehog using play dough. They will shape the play dough to look like a hedgehog’s body, then add googly eyes to show where its face is. Place a small tray or container of precut pipe cleaners and a number cube within reach of the students.
- Have partners take turns rolling the number cube and pushing that many pipe cleaner “quills” into their hedgehog. The game ends when the hedgehog’s body is full! one-to-one correspondence/fine-motor skills
Materials: small brown paper bags; black and brown construction paper; cup or mug; pink pom-poms; black or brown pipe cleaners; googly eyes or dark buttons; liquid glue
- Get to know this adorable creature through crafting and pretend play!
- To prepare, cut pipe cleaners in half so each student will receive six pieces. You can also use small strips of black construction paper. These will be the puppet’s whiskers. Then trace the opening of a plastic cup or mug to make circles on brown construction paper. Make enough so each student will receive two. Then cut out the circles. These will be the puppet’s ears.
- Give each student a paper bag and two circles. Have them glue the ears to the back of the bag so they stick out at the top corners.
- While the ears dry, students can create the face on the front. They should glue on buttons or googly eyes for eyes, a pom-pom for a nose, and six whiskers.
- Give each student one full-length pipe cleaner. Have them glue it to the back of their puppet, near the bottom, to make the dormouse’s tail.
- Lastly, have students name their dormouse. They can use their puppet to act out how dormice prepare to hibernate. art/imaginative play