A Free Homeschool UNIT STUDY: Hibernation

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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!

To read more about the concepts behind my UNIT STUDIES, read this.

If you find it handy to have a simplified printable of these suggestions, you can find one, along with several free printables, in the FREE Hibernation Unit Study Printable Pack.

{Note: All links are pink! Just think, “pink link” if you are wanting to follow a link to something.}

Unit Study: HIBERNATION

Before doing a little research for this UNIT STUDY, the term HIBERNATE 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 hedgehogs when I think of the word! Check out this UNIT STUDY to learn about all sorts of animals that HIBERNATE.

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 comprehension pages in the FREE Hibernation Unit Study Printable Pack.

A couple of other fiction options include Bear Stays Up and Bear Snores On, both of which feature a sweet giant bear and his many friends. Or, check out this new book, Hedgehog’s Home for Winter. I did a review on it, which you can find here. And, my all-time favorite fiction HIBERNATION book, Hibernation Station, is a must-have for littles to learn about HIBERNATION. But with its sweet rhyme, woodland train and variety of animals, it makes a perfect bedtime story as well.

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 Hibernation Unit Study Printable Pack.

Other great non-fiction choices include the simple reader, Hibernation, and the beautifully-illustrated Animals in Winter. One of my highest non-fiction HIBERNATION recommendations is for Winter Sleep. It combines a lovely story about a child and his grandma going on a winter walk with a series of non-fiction facts about the wide variety of animals that HIBERNATE.

WRITE

After reading The Snowy Nap, check out these two cute pages in the FREE Hibernation Unit Study Printable 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 with 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

For a simple, one-page reading passage with comprehension questions and writing prompts, be sure to print off the FREE Hibernation Unit Study Printable Pack.