Children's Activities on Hibernation
Bears, squirrels, frogs and snakes are just a few animals that hibernate in the winter. When animals hibernate, their heart rate and breathing slow down and their body temperature drops. Animals hibernate during the winter to stay safe and warm. They live off stored body fat, or may wake to eat and then go back into hibernation. Activities to teach children about hibernation should help explain what hibernation is, why animals hibernate and what type of animals hibernate.
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Hibernating Bears
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Teach children about hibernation using their own stuffed bears. Have the children bring in their favorite teddy bear and introduce the concept of hibernation. Explain that a bear goes into a den for the winter and falls into a long sleep. Bears stay in their dens until spring when they come out, ready to eat and play. Have the children make pictures of what a den might look like and draw a bear inside, hibernating. The next day, hide the children's stuffed bears, and when they come in, have the children go on a bear hunt to find the hibernating bears.
Hibernation Party
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After teaching children what happens to an animal's body during hibernation, have a hibernation party. Allow the children to come to school in their pajamas and bring pillows, blankets and stuffed animals. Build a den in your classroom and "hibernate" inside while you read stories. Stories such as "The Mitten," by Jan Brett or "Chipmunk at Hollow Tree Lane," by Victoria Sherrow are appropriate books for this activity. You could also play music and have the children pretend to sleep when the music is on. When the music is turned off, they must come out of hibernation. Practice hibernating and waking up several times, then go around and ask each child what hibernating animal they were pretending to be and what happens to those animals while they are hibernating.
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Hibernating Animals
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Have the children make their own pictures of animals hibernating. They can use paint mixed with coffee grounds to paint a bear. They can glue tissue paper to oak tags cut into the shape of snakes or frogs. They can make a bat out of construction paper and trace their hands to use as wings. Once the child makes a hibernating animal, help them write a sentence about what happens to the animal's body when it hibernates, or where it hibernates.
Create a Cave
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Create a den or a cave with your students using an old box or container. Talk about hibernation with your students and then place some stuffed animals in the cave to hibernate. Leave the animals in hibernation until the first day of spring. Have the children check on the animals in hibernation periodically and note that because it's winter, the animals are still hibernating. On the first day of spring, remove the animals from the cave before the students arrive. Have the students check on the animals and discuss why they have come out of hibernation. Discuss how animals that come out of hibernation are very hungry and ready to play.
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- Photo Credit frogs on the way image by muro from Fotolia.com
