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Each UNIT STUDY includes suggestions of books to READ, ideas to WRITE, crafts to CREATE, more to EXPLORE, snacks to ENJOY and other ways to LEARN about a specific topic!
This is part of a series, THE 12 DAYS OF WINTER UNIT STUDIES. For a thorough explanation of UNIT STUDIES {what they are and what they include} check out THE 12 DAYS OF WINTER UNIT STUDIES. You’ll also find a schedule of when each new UNIT PACK will go live!
Day Six: HIBERNATION
Before doing a little research for this UNIT STUDY, the term HIBERNATION always made me think of just bears. But, as it turns out, there are loads of animals who HIBERNATE, and now my brain turns to cute, little hedghogs when I think of the word!
READ: The Snowy Nap by Jan Brett tells the story of a sweet, little hedgehog that does not want to HIBERNATE but, instead, wants to enjoy all of the winter fun that his farm friends brag about. And, in classic Jan Brett style, the illustrations are darling! The book lends itself to a great discussion about which animals need to HIBERNATE and which don’t. It also begs the question of WHY some might NOT want to HIBERNATE. Personally, curling up into a little ball and sleeping the winter away sounds rather lovely but I can also see Hedgie’s point of view too. After reading the book, be sure to make use of the FREE FICTION mini BOOK COMPANION PACK to help increase comprehension.
WRITE: After reading The Snowy Nap, check out these two cute pages in the WINTER-THEMED WRITING ACTIVITIES PACK. For the first activity, your student will be asked to write about what he would miss if HIBERNATION was how he had to spend winter.
{Here’s my sad excuse for a snowman. What’s wth his hat?!?!?!}
If you have kids who want to write more, this second activity is super fun! From the perspective of the hedgehog, they need to write a persuasive paragraph about why they should not have to HIBERNATE for winter.
CREATE: Oh my! There are soooooooooo many cute hedgehog crafts! This pin will take you to three adorable hedgehog craft ideas in one spot. The fork-painted one is my favorite, and it’s the easiest too! But the other two are also great options too!
Like I said at the beginning of this post, I’m all about the hedgehogs now, but it would not be fair to the others if I didn’t highlight some different HIBERNATING animal crafts. So, for bears there is this Hibernating Bears Paper Plate Craft. And, here is a Hibernating Chipmunk Paper Plate Craft which could be easily adapted to nearly any animal.
ENJOY: Snacks always need to be simple, in my opinion, and this Pear and Grape Hedgehog fits that to a tee! It is also super cute and totally healthy. In addition to a pear and several grapes it does require toothpicks and a random blueberry or two {though chocolate chips would work too!}
And for another cute and easy but only semi-healthy option, there is this adorable hedgehog made with an apple, some peanut butter and two sizes of chocolate chips.
For an easy and cute, but not healthy, hedgehog, there is this guy made with Hostess Sno-Balls, white frosting and Golden Crisp cereal.
Or, if you want to go the more traditional bear route, there is this cute Teddy Bear Toast made with a piece of toast, some peanut butter, a couple of banana slices and a few chocolate chips.
This snack that accompanies Bear Snores On is uber clever but super simple and only requires a graham cracker, a bit of coconut and one Teddy Graham.
But, if you want the easiest route of all, which is totally my style, throw some Teddy Grahams on a plate!
EXPLORE: To explore a wee bit more about HIBERNATION, you may want to consider the documentary on Amazon Prime, Close to Death: Hibernation. As the name suggests, it’s not about watercolored bears or happy hedgehogs though, so you may want to screen it before showing the littles. It’s 40 minutes long.
But this video from Brain-Pop and this one from National Geographic should work for all ages! Plus, they are much shorter!
LEARN: I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit just how much science Magic School Bus has taught my son over the years but I have found that they are usually a fairly reliable source for turning basic science topics into fun movies and books. Magic School Bus Sleeps For the Winter is an easy read, to the point and funny too. Plus, there are some companion pages for it in the FREE mini NON-FICTION BOOK COMPANION PACK.
And for a simple, one-page reading passage with comprehension questions and writing prompts, use code 12DAYSofWINTERWOLFe to get the WINTER-THEMED INFORMATIONAL TEXT AND WRITING PROMPTS PACK for FREE.
READ MORE: There are loads of great books about HIBERNATION…both fiction and non-fiction. Here are just a few….
Check out the entire series,
12 Days of Winter Unit Studies!
READ~WRITE~CREATE~EXPLORE~ENJOY~LEARN!
I hope this HIBERNATION UNIT STUDY provided you with at least an idea or two about a fun way to teach this winter-themed topic!
Be sure to check out the other UNIT STUDIES as they go live. You can find the full schedule, along with the rest of the Homeschooling Fun Through the Holidays Series, HERE!
Next up: REINDEER
Much appreciation goes out to my good friend, Jamie Spear! She helped me find these fun books, crafts, snacks and more! Without her, these UNIT STUDIES would have nothing but “read this, print that, and write something!” You can find her on FaceBook, Instagram and Pinterest.
[…] Next up: HIBERNATION […]