Tag Archives: polar bears

Penguins and Polar Bears: A Chilly Storytime

22 Jul

It’s been a hot one here in Colorado this summer, so I thought I’d cool things off with a storytime featuring penguins and polar bears. I have a great penguin puppet given to me by a coworker, and he introduces our storytime.

  • Brett, Jan. The Three Snow Bears. A three bears retelling, set among polar bears. 
  • Rodriguez, Edel. Sergio Makes a Splash.
  • Song: Penguins and Polar Bears (in which we learn that they do NOT live in the same place).
  • Ward, Jennifer. Way Up In the Arctic. A story to sing! If we have time, and the group is old enough, we go through the book a second time trying to find the number on each page. I ask the kids to use descriptive words to tell me where the number is, rather than saying “right there!”
  • Flannelboard/fingerplay: 5 Baby Penguins.
  • Munsinger, Lynn. Tacky The Penguin. I mean, come on. The gold standard of penguin books. I adore Tacky.  “WHATS HAPPENING!?”

Other books I love:

  • Barner, Bob. Penguins, Penguins Everywhere. A good option for the younger crowd.
  • Dodd, Emma. I Am Small. Another good one for the youngers, with a nice refrain, “And I am small,” for them to repeat.
  • Portis, Antoinette. A Penguin Story. A penguin goes in search of something that’s not black, white or blue – and finds an Antarctic Science Station!
  • Murphy, Yannick. .
  • Bloom, Suzanne. A Splendid Friend Indeed. Okay, so not a Polar Bear story exactly, but I LOVE his expressions. And Goose’s enthusiasm.

What are you doing to beat the summer heat?

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Flannel Friday: Penguins and Polar Bears

6 Jul

We have some CRAZY heat happening here in Colorado. One of the downsides, besides just being miserable, is that our state is tinder-box dry and as you know we’ve had some terrible wildfires that have caused major destruction. If any of you are in states that have been having too much rain, feel free to send some our way. We REALLY need it.

I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to do a Penguins and Polar Bears storytime, to help beat the heat. When I mentioned this to a friend, she was ADAMANT that I make it clear that the kids learned that penguins and polar bears DO NOT live together. So, to aid in her cause, I found this song:

(sung to the tune of “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”)

Up North there’s a very cold ocean,

Where icebergs are big as can be,

Up north there’s a place called the North Pole,

Where polar bears swim in the sea.

[Chorus]

Up north, up north, where polar bears swim in the sea, the sea!

Up north, up north, where swimming is too cold for me.

To demonstrate the idea, I printed off a globe picture and covered it in contact paper. I stuck a star sticker at Colorado’s (approximate) location, and put an “N” at the north pole and “S” at the south. Then I added pictures of the animals that live there.

The second verse continues:

Down South there’s a very cold ocean,

Where icebergs are big as can be,

Down South there’s a place called the South Pole,

Where Penguins all swim in the sea,

[Chorus]

Down south, down south, where penguins all swim in the sea, the sea,

Down south, down south, where swimming is too cold for me.

There you have it! Simple, but a fun song, and we might learn something!

I’m hosting the round up today so check back during the day for updates! I’ll have the whole thing done by Saturday morning. Click on the icon to the right to see ALL the past flannels organized visually by subject.

Happy flanneling!

 

 

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