Animals Archives -Imaginations Running Wild-

Snail Stories for Preschoolers

March 21, 2023March 20, 2023 Jennifer

While adults tend to view snails as garden pests, preschoolers are fascinated by them! Here are 6 snail stories for preschoolers to enjoy! These stories might just give you a whole new outlook on snails and you may think they are pretty great after all.

6 Awesome Snail Stories:

1. Snail Crossing by Corey R. Tabor–

This book is hilarious!!! And it is so darn cute. We love the snail’s determination and positive attitude. The message of helping others and working toward your goals makes this book a winner. We just keep rereading this one and we laugh every single time –seriously, it is a family favorite! My son even insisted that we buy copies for 2 of his cousins.

2. Snail and Worm by Tina Kugler–

Get ready to laugh with Snail and Worm! These two best friends will crack you up as they explore the world around them. Each book contains three short stories filled with jokes, hilarious misunderstandings, and friendship. You can’t help but fall in love with these two.

3. The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson–

In this rhyming book, snail yearns to explore, but is hindered by its size. When a whale offers to help snail take a journey, it is a dream come true. But whale gets stuck and it is up to the small snail to help its new friend. It goes to show that no matter who small you are, you can still help others.

4. The Story of Fish and Snail by Deborah Freedman–

Friends Fish and Snail enjoy reading books! Fish, the braver of the two, travels into new books and then returns to retell Snail the fantastical story! One day, Fish is excited to have Snail come with on a book adventure, but Snail is too scared to go. They end up arguing and Fish goes off alone. Snail misses its friend and decides to bravely go into another book in search of Fish! Reunited, these best friends have an awesome adventure as adorable kitty-pirates!

5. Escargot by Dashka Slater —

Escargot is a cute little French snail who just happens to be a picky eater. While he loves lettuce, there is no one you will get him to try a carrot. Preschoolers will enjoy this interactive book and will have fun trying to get Escargot to try a carrot!

6. Norman the Slug with the Silly Shell by Sue Hendra–

This is a funny story about a slug, named Norman, who wants to be a snail so he can join in the snails’ fun. Norman puts all sorts of silly things on his back in attempt to have a shell of his own. Preschoolers will giggle at the funny things that Norman tries to use as his shell! Norman settles on a donut and, after strapping it his back, goes to play with the snails. Suddenly a hungry bird comes swooping down and grabs Norman’s donut. Up in the air goes Norman! Norman uses his slug slime powers and makes so much slime that he slips free, landing safely back home.

THANK YOU

Thank you for checking out my list of snail stories for preschoolers! I hope you enjoy these books! I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy reading 🙂

Snail Craft:

Paper Plate Snail: this snail is so cute and fun to make too! Draw a spiral around the plate and let your little one paint the snail’s paper plate shell.

Animals, Spring

Awesome Butterfly Stories

March 8, 2023March 8, 2023 Jennifer

Bugs are one of my favorite springtime preschool themes! Preschoolers are so fascinated by bugs in general, but butterflies are definitely a favorite! Here is a list of 10 awesome butterfly stories that are sure to please your preschooler! Check out the butterfly crafts at the end of this post for some fun things to make! Also, listen to this read-aloud to Senorita Mariposa with author Mister G: https://youtu.be/h-s4plLc1OM

10 Butterfly Stories:

1. Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert–

Lois Ehlert is an amazing author and illustrator. This is a sweet, gently story about a flower garden awaiting the arrival of the beautiful butterflies. The book uses a rhyming format to teach about a butterfly’s life cycle in short, but informative text. My son and I love the pictures throughout this book. They are so bright and vibrant! This book not only uses color well, but it also utilizes paper as an artform within the book. There is a smaller book inside the book, and less wide pages that utilize the larger pages’ artwork. — this makes reading this book more of an experience. At the end, there is a section that shows each caterpillar, it’s chrysalis, and matching butterfly. My son and I love to look at this part — it’s perfect for young entomologists!

2. Pinkalicious and the Little Butterfly by Victoria Kahn–

Pinkalicious’ teacher brings caterpillars to the classroom so that the students can watch their amazing transformation into monarch butterflies. One of the best things about the Pinkalicious stories is that Pinkalicious is always so enthusiastic about learning new things and she is full of wonderment! After making friends with one of the caterpillars, Pinkalicious learns about metamorphosis, explaining in it is preschool friendly way, and is delighted when it emerges as a butterfly!

3. Bob and Otto by Robert Bruel–

Friends, Bob (a caterpillar) and Otto (a worm) do everything together until one day when Bob climbs a tree and Otto stays in the dirt. Bob goes on to build a chrysalis and transform into a butterfly, while Otto stays being a worm. When Otto sees Bob’s beautiful wings, he begins to regret not climbing the tree and turning into a butterfly too. Fortunately Bob knows that worms play an important role underground aerating the soil so that plants and trees can grow, and he reassures Otto and that each of them are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. Not to worry, the two are still able to be friends and have lots of fun together despite Bob’s change in appearance. Overall a lovely friendship story that is filled with great science lessons!

4. Ten Magic Butterflies by Danica McKeller–

This lovely rhyming story has talking flowers, fairies, and butterflies, plus it incorporates counting! The flowers want to fly and ask the fairies for wings, so the fairies turn them into butterflies. They have a fun time flying about the night sky, but soon the butterflies realize that being themselves is best. The fairies change them back to flowers with more counting to ten and number groupings!

Check out the read-aloud with author, Danica McKellar: https://youtu.be/kBi_RoXKVo0

5. The Little Butterfly That Could by Ross Burach–

After reading about The Impatient Caterpillar who finally turned into a butterfly, now we get to read the butterfly’s story! Filled with humor and comical illustrations, readers will laugh their way through this book, while learning lots of great butterfly facts! Preschoolers will be able to relate to the butterfly’s skepticism at being able to travel so far in search of flowers as they too face tasks that seem insurmountable. But the butterfly shows up that perseverance is key in accomplishing one’s goals.

6. Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin, Jr.–

Short, rhyming text by Martin paired with Lois Ehlert’s amazing pictures, makes this book a preschool favorite! Each of the ten caterpillars have a little adventure, but it’s the tenth caterpillar that has the most amazing of all. The tenth caterpillar turns into a butterfly!

7. Butterfly Colors and Counting by Jerry Pallotta–

While there is no storyline to this book, it does have beautiful, bright pictures of butterflies! Each page has a number, a color, and a number of butterflies, making counting tons of fun. Also included are the types of butterflies depicted in each picture.

8. Bonjour Butterfly by Jane O’Connor–

Nancy and her best friend, Bree, love butterflies! In fact, they love them so much that Bree is having a butterfly themed birthday! However, Nancy isn’t able to go to the birthday party because she and her family are going out of town to her grandparents’ anniversary party on the same day. Even though she is disappointed not be with Bree, Nancy has lots of fun with her grandparents at their fancy party. The next day, Nancy’s grandparents bring her to the zoo to see the butterfly garden. There are gorgeous flowers and beautiful butterflies and Nancy gets to enjoy butterflies after all.

9. Butterfly House by Eve Bunting —

This beautifully illustrated story is filled with proper scientific terms for the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle. A young girl and her grandfather save a black caterpillar (her grandfather says it is a larva) from a bird and take it home to keep it safe. They create a butterfly terrarium for the little larva to live in while it undergoes its transformation in its chrysalis. Grandfather knows a lot about butterflies, including what they like to eat, so they head out to gather some plants. After some time, the butterfly emerges from its chrysalis and it is time to release it into the wild. As the girl grows up, she remembers what grandfather taught her and creates her own butterfly garden to attract these lovely insects.

10. Clara Caterpillar by Pamala Duncan Edwards–

One day, a cream colored butterfly lays a little egg on a cabbage leaf and names it Clara. Clara is very comfortable in her egg, but other caterpillars bug her to come out and join them. A mean red caterpillar named, Catisha, picks on Clara for being plain, but Clara doesn’t pay her any attention. After a while, it is time for them form chrysalises and turn into butterflies. When all of the little butterflies emerge, Clara has cream colored wings and Catisha has bright crimson wings. The bright wings caught the attention of a crow! Clara comes to Catisha’s rescue and tricks the crow by camouflaging with some cream colored flowers. Turns out that being a cream colored butterfly is pretty great!

For more bug books check out my other posts: BUG BOOKS and LADYBUG STORIES

Check your library for these and other butterfly stories. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂

More Butterfly Stuff!

–Bug Crown Craft: print and color these bug pictures and glue them onto your own construction paper crown to make a Bug Crown!

–Butterfly Note Holder Craft: Create a cute butterfly note holder on a clothespin and then write a name, a message, or draw a picture on the note to customize it.

–Mosaic Butterfly: make a beautiful mosaic butterfly from scraps of construction paper.

-Watch and learn about a butterfly’s lifecycle (5 minutes): https://youtu.be/O1S8WzwLPlM

-Watch PBS Kids’ Nature Cat and learn how to create a butterfly garden (2 minutes): https://pbskids.org/video/nature-cat/2365604474

–I Spy Butterfly Worksheet — print this free worksheet and then let your preschooler count how many of each picture they see in this “I Spy” challenge.

Animals, Spring

Bug Books

March 3, 2023March 1, 2023 Jennifer

Here are a dozen great bug books for your preschooler to enjoy! Preschoolers love bugs and exploring outside. Feed their natural curiosity with these stories about butterflies, ladybugs, ants, bees, caterpillars, dragonflies, lightning bugs, and other insects. There are so many cute bug stories available, that I made additional booklists for LADYBUGS and BUTTERFLIES! At the end of this post are some fun bug crafts that you can make at home 🙂

12 Bug Books

1. Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Green —

When my son was 3 years old, this was one of his favorite books! He still loves ladybugs 🙂 This book hits all of a preschooler’s requirements for an entertaining read–it has a rhyming story, bright pictures, and stuff to touch! The story starts with 10 ladybugs, but one by one, they wander off. Read this and find out where they are all going.

2. Leo the Lightning Bug by Eric Drachman —

This story about a little firefly named Leo who is having a hard time getting his “light” to come on. He practices and practices, only to be ridiculed by his friends. However, Leo is determined and sets out to practice again. A a storm comes and lightning strikes across the sky. Leo mistakenly thinks that he made the light!

3 A Good Place by Lucy Cousins —

Four bug friends–a bee, a ladybug, a beetle, and a dragonfly–are looking for a good place to live. Each bug has different requirements for their home. The bee wants flowers, the ladybug wants leaves, the beetle wants dead wood, and the dragonfly wants water. The friends keep trying different spots, but nothing is quite right. Will they ever find a good place to live? You betcha! Butterfly comes along and brings to an amazing garden that has everything they need. Great pictures and humor make this bug book a winner!

4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle —

This story is a preschool favorite! The fantastic illustrations coupled with one of kids’ favorite bugs captures little ones’ attentions. The caterpillar eats more and more each day until it eats so much that it gets a tummy ache! Soon the caterpillar prepares for its transformation into a butterfly. Get ready to be wowed by the beautiful butterfly picture at the end. This is a must read if you haven’t read it yet. Borrow it from your local library or watch this read-aloud from Brightly Storytime Eric Carle has several other bug stories to enjoy too: The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Very Lonely Firefly, The Very Grouchy Ladybug, and (even though not technically a bug, but kids call spiders bugs) The Very Busy Spider.

5. Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert —

Lois Ehlert is an amazing author and illustrator! This is a sweet, gently story about a flower garden awaiting the arrival of the beautiful butterflies. The book uses a rhyming format to teach about a butterfly’s life cycle in short, but informative text. My son and I love the pictures throughout this book. They are so bright and vibrant! This book not only uses color well, but it also utilizes paper as an artform within the book. There is a smaller book inside the book, and less wide pages that utilize the larger pages’ artwork. This artistic style makes reading this book more of an experience. At the end, there is a section that shows each caterpillar, it’s chrysalis, and matching butterfly. My son and I love to look at this part — it’s perfect for young biologists.

6. The Honeybee by Kristen Hall–

This is a truly educational book wrapped up in gorgeous pictures. In this book preschoolers will learn about the importance of bees, how honey is made, and a year in the life of a bee. In addition to all of the great things your preschooler will learn about bees, this book also provides a great look the four seasons and lends itself well to conversations about changes in weather and hibernation. The end of the book provides bee facts for further discussion.

7. Ant and Grasshopper by Luli Gray–

This book has bright, exciting pictures that will capture preschoolers’ imaginations! Based on the Aesop’s Fable of the same name, this book shows that it is important to work hard and plan ahead, but that it is also important to be a good friend and enjoy some fun!

8. The Bug Book by Sue Fliess–

Preschoolers will love this rhyming book filled with fantastic, real bug pictures! Sue Fliess managed to pack a quick fact about most of the bugs into this short book. The pictures are the real seller here — children can see up close how many legs bugs have, a look at wings, and different camouflage.

9. Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! by Bob Barner–

With bright, bold pictures and short, rhyming text, young children will really like this book! Learn the names of several different kinds of bugs and something special about each bug. I love that the end of this book sows the bugs in actual size, as well as a spread about how many legs each had, whether they can fly, and whether they can sting. This is a quick read, but be prepared to read this one multiple times!

10. Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni–

An inchworm convinces the birds not to it by proving its usefulness in measuring various parts of the birds. When the inch worm meets a hungry nightingale, the bird asks the inch worm to measure its song. How is the inchworm supposed to do that? Check this one out from your library to find out the inchworm’s cleaver plan!

11. What the Ladybug Heard by Julia Donaldson —

This is one of my son’s favorite stories! He loves ladybugs and was really excited to read this story about two robbers who are outsmarted by the ladybug. All of the farm animals follow ladybug’s plan and the two thieves are stopped! This book is so funny and has great pictures that my son loves looking at.

12. The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach —

Preschoolers can relate to caterpillar who is finding it very hard to be patient when good things are to come. This is such a funny story about a caterpillar who just can’t wait to turn into a butterfly. The book provides a good look at the metamorphosis process that caterpillars go through to turn into butterflies.

Check your library for these and other bug books. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂

More Bugs!

Bug Crown: print and color these bug pictures and glue them onto your own construction paper crown to make a Bug Crown!

Egg Carton Ant: paint an egg carton and add some pipe cleaners to make your own cute ant craft.

Mosaic Butterfly: make a beautiful mosaic butterfly from scraps of construction paper.

Toilet Paper Roll Bee: your preschooler will love making this cute bee craft out of an empty toilet paper roll!

Butterfly Note Holder: Create a cute butterfly note holder on a clothespin and then write a name, a message, or draw a picture on the note to customize it.

Animals, Spring

Egg Carton Ladybug Craft

March 2, 2023January 1, 2023 Jennifer

Turn a cardboard egg carton into a cute little ladybug craft! This egg carton ladybug craft requires minimal supplies, is low prep, and tons of fun to make.

Supplies Needed:

cardboard egg carton
scissors
nontoxic red and black paint (I like to use Crayola Washable Paints)
paintbrush
googly eyes
black construction paper
glue
black marker
paper plate (optional)

How To:

To make an egg carton ladybug, an adult needs to cut one of the cups off your egg carton to be your ladybug (or cut off several and make a lot of ladybugs!).

Next, set out a paper plate (optional, but I like to have my child paint on top of a paper plate to help catch spills). Now its paint time! Grab a paintbrush and let your child paint the egg carton cup red. Let it dry. Once the red paint is dry, your preschooler can dip their finger into the black paint and add spots to the ladybug. My son loved adding the spots 🙂

While the spots are drying, cut a circle out of black construction paper. We traced a cup on a black paper to make out circle shape. Cut your circle in half — now your have 2 wings!

Glue your wings onto the back of the egg carton ladybug. We glued them slightly askew so that it looked like our bug was about to take flight. My son loves googly eyes, so he added two of those to the front of the egg carton cup. Our ladybug looked kind of grouchy, we used a black marker to draw on a smile to complete the ladybug craft.

Check out my crafts page for more ideas. My son and I also made a cute bug crown that has a ladybug on it, and we made ladybug stick puppet too!

I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support!

Animals, Spring

Ladybug Books

March 1, 2023March 1, 2023 Jennifer

Here are 6 ladybugs that your preschooler will love! Preschoolers are fascinated by these cute little bugs and get so excited when they see one! Not only do I have a list of ladybug stories to share, but also two super cute ladybug crafts to make with your child. My son and I made a bug crown craft with a ladybug and other bugs too, and we made a paper plate ladybug stick puppet craft!

Ladybug Books:

1. What the Ladybug Heard by Julia Donaldson —

2. What the Ladybug Heard at the Zoo by Julia Donaldson–

In this sequel to the What the Ladybug Heard, the ladybug is visiting the zoo when it overhears two robbers’ plan to kidnap Monkey Joe, They want to use him to steal the Queen’s jewels! Yikes! Ladybug comes up with a plan to foil the bad guys. All of the zoo animals and the Queen’s pups help out and stop the robbers.

3. The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle–

Eric Carle always sneaks in some important concept learning into his stories and in this one, he incorporates the concepts of size, shape, and time! My son loves when the little tiny ladybug meets a huge blue whale. Young readers will enjoy the grouchy ladybug’s journey as she comes to realize the importance of kindness and friendship.

4. Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Green —

5. A Good Place by Lucy Cousins —

6. Little Ladybug Finger Puppet Book by Chronicle Books–

My son loves these finger puppet board books by Chronicle Books! We have several of them. The ladybug book is adorable and the little puppet is so much fun. My son loves have me read this short story to him while I make the puppet wiggle with the words. Then he wants to do the puppet and tell his version of the story — so cute!

Check your library for these and other ladybug books. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂

Finger Rhyme!

Animals, Spring

12 Spring Stories for Preschoolers

January 31, 2023February 3, 2023 Jennifer

Spring is so beautiful with all of the greenery and pretty flowers popping up everywhere! Here is a list of 10 spring stories that are perfect for preschoolers. For more spring books that preschoolers and kindergarteners will enjoy, check out my list of BUNNY BOOKS and GARDEN STORIES to share with your little learner!

12 Lovely Spring Stories:

1. Little Blue Truck’s Springtime by Alice Schertle —

Our favorite blue truck is back in this lovely springtime book. Baby animals, green grass, and beautiful flowers are found on every page. In this gentle, rhyming story, Blue and Toad venture out on a beautiful spring day. Who do they see along the way? Open the flaps to see all of the cute baby animals!

2. Wee Little Bunny by Lauren Thompson —

A baby bunny sets out to explore on a beautiful spring day. Bunny is super busy chasing dragonflies, making new friends, and checking out the world around it. When mama bunny calls, baby bunny races home to tell mama about its fun adventure. This book is not very long and has fantastic illustrations, making it a great choice for wiggly preschoolers.

3. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Frog by Lucille Colandro —

The silly old lady gets spring fever and she begins swallowing all sorts of things, starting with a frog. After swallowing dirt, seeds, rain, sunlight, gloves, and a rake, she burps everything back up and gets a garden! With rhyming text and silly pictures, preschoolers will enjoy this book. A great look at sequencing. Try asking: What did she swallow first? What are the steps to create a garden?

4. I See Spring by Charles Ghigna —

With cute illustrations and rhyming text, preschoolers will definitely enjoy this book. This book provides a nice overview of the season. The illustrations show rainy days, rainbows, pretty flowers, birds building a nest, kites flying in the breeze, and lots of kids having fun! A quick, but enjoyable read.

5. When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes —

This book provides a fantastic look at the transition from winter to spring. Henkes is a great storyteller and his use of alliteration really captures the coming of the spring season. Adorable pictures will keep preschoolers glued to the pages.

6. Olaf Waits for Spring by Victoria Saxon–

Olaf the curious snowman from the movie Frozen, can’t wait to experience spring! His friends tell him about all of the wonderful things that happen in the spring — the ice thaws and they can go sailing, yummy fruit grows, flowers bloom, and baby animals are born! Olaf decides to sit atop a mountain and wait out the winter storm for spring to come. Fortunately, Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff come along to explain that spring happens gradually and we have to be patient.

7. And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano–

A child patiently awaits the arrival of spring. Slowly, green begins to appear outside as grass sprouts up and leaves unfold. The changing of the seasons is a time to be patient as nature slowly reveals the first shoots coming up from the seeds and the arrival of spring. There’s something really soothing about this text and with Erin E. Stead’s illustrations.

8. Spring is Here by Will Hillenbrand —

This cheerful book about friends, Mole and Bear, is perfect for preschoolers! It has lots of word repetition, short text, cute pictures, and humor. Bear is still hibernating and Mole wants him to wake up. After trying all sorts of ways to wake Bear with no luck, Mole hatches a new plan. Mole decides to bake a special treat whose alluring aroma will surely wake Bear!

9. Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak–

Kenard Pak’s seasons series is fantastic! In this springtime edition, a boy and his dog head out into wilderness to explore. They are greeted with signs of spring. Birds are chirping and ice is dripping and green is popping up all around them. The illustrations are gorgeous and show the gentle changing of the season from winter to spring.

10. Hopper Hunts for Spring by Marcus Pfister–

Author of the classic children’s story, The Rainbow Fish, brings you a new friend, Hopper the young hare. This little hare is on a mission to find spring, who he hopes will be his new friend. He looks in a hole and cave and the hollow of a tree, but he can’t find spring. Along his travels he meets new animal friends, a mole and a bear, but still no spring. Back home with his mother, Hopper learns that spring isn’t just one thing, but changes in the world around him. While Hopper didn’t meet spring in the way he thought he would, he did make new friends and get to enjoy the changing of the seasons.

11. Dr. Seuss’ Spring Things —

Thing 1 and Things 2 from Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat have a spin-off board book series. Each book features a very short rhyming story, bright pictures, and holiday/seasonal images. In this spring book, Thing 1 and Thing 2 explore the outdoors and find ducklings, baby chicks, frogs, a spring rain storm, flowers, muddy puddles, and more! Ask your child what their favorite spring thing is! Also, check your library for more Thing 1 and Thing 2 adventures.

12. The Spring Book by Todd Parr–

Todd Parr leads readers on a colorful journey through springtime. Bright illustrations show flowers in bloom, lots of greenery, animals awakening from hibernation, and babies being born. Parr briefly touches on some of the springtime celebrations, holidays, and activities such as gardening and cultural festivals. This book is a great choice for children who can’t sit still very long, as there is little text and engaging pictures.

I hope you enjoy these spring stories! Check your public library for these books and other preschool spring stories. I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy reading

Spring Crafts:

Spring Wreath Craft: create a cute paper wreath to decorate for spring!

Toilet Paper Roll Bee: your preschooler will love making this cute bee craft out of an empty toilet paper roll!

Hatching Chick: turn an paper plate into a hatching chick craft.

Animals

Bear Stories for Preschoolers

January 30, 2023January 30, 2023 Jennifer

I’ve compiled a list of stories about bears. Filled with humor, bear facts, and great illustrations, these books are perfect for preschoolers My son made a cute fuzzy bear craft that ties in perfectly with these stories! Check out my list of POLAR BEAR books too!

10 Bear Stories:

1. Bear is Awake: an alphabet story by Hannah E. Harrison–

This is such a cool book! With hardly any words, the reader pieces the story together from the fantastic illustrations and the alphabet letter and corresponding word on each page. In this book, a bear awakens too early ( A = awake) and sets off in search of food. It finds a little girl in a cabin, who, through a series of humorous events, helps bear return to its home and go back to sleep. Zzzzzzz.

2. Polar Bear’s Underwear by Tupera Tupera–

Polar has lost his underwear! His friend mouse helps him search. They spot lots of underwear, but none of them are Polar Bear’s. This book features fun cut outs that show a glimpse of the undies featured in the next page. Preschoolers will enjoy guessing whether these are Polar Bear’s or not. Just when Mouse and Polar Bear are about to give up, Polar Bear remembers that he’s wearing white underwear! It’s camouflaged in his fur— silly bear!

3. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen–

This books takes the reader on a great adventure through all sorts of obstacles in search of a bear. It is super fun to make all of the noises in the book and act out the story as the book progresses. Every time we read this, my son acts out the story on his own afterward, often using toys or pretending to have his own bear hunt outside as we walk through our neighborhood. You can substitute anything for “bear” and go on all sorts of adventures! This book is a beloved classic and should be available at your library. My kiddo loved it so much that we bought it.

4. Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson–

Karma Wilson is one of my favorite authors and my son and I especially lover her Bear series! In this Bear book, Bear and friends come together for a wonderful fall feast. Each one contributes something to the meal, except for Bear, whose cupboard is empty. Bear is thankful for his friends and their generosity, but worries that he has nothing to contribute. That’s not true, his friends say. Then Bear shares the one thing he can, his fantastic stories! I love this lesson that everyone has something to share even if it is not a material thing.

5. Baby Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolff—

Wow. The illustrations are beautiful in this book about a baby and mommy bear. Baby bear wakes in the spring to a beautiful world filled with bright colors. Each spread focuses on a different color as the bear makes its way out of the cave and explores the forest. A rain storm causes the bears to go back to their cave, but when they look out after the storm has passed they see a rainbow!

6. Polar Bear Babies by Susan Ring —

Learn about the survival skills baby polar bears need for life in the harsh arctic in this short book. The babies need to learn to swim, catch fish, and run around the snow. The cute images of the baby bears greatly appealed to my son.

7. Don’t Wake Up the Bear! by Marjory Dennis Murray–

Preschooler will enjoy this funny story about a bunch of cold forest animals who sneak into bear’s warm cave while it is hibernating. One by one the cave fills up with animals who whisper “don’t wake up the bear.” Everyone is quietly warming up when a little mouse sneezes in bear’s ear and bear wakes up! Is this is the end of the animals warm cuddle? Read this cute story to find out!

8. Bear’s New Friend by Karma Wilson–

Bear heads out to enjoy the day and hears a sound. Is it his friend mouse? Nope, not mouse. One by one, Bear and his friends end up in a guessing game trying to figure out who this new creature is. They keep asking “Who?” Turns out to be a shy owl. Will owl want to be friends too? Read this one and find out!

9. Kite Day: a Bear and Mole story by Will Hillenbrand —

It is a lovely, windy day — perfect for flying a kite. Friends Bear and Mole decide to make a kite. They plan, collect supplies, measure, and construct (great for STEM lesson) and then take their new kite out for some flying fun! Suddenly a storm blows in and the kite escapes. Bear and Mole chase after their kite. Oh no! Is the kite gone forever? They find it stuck in a tree where it is sheltering baby birds from the storm 🙂

10. Old Bear by Kevin Henkes–

Winter is on its way and it’s time for Old Bear to hibernate. Old Bear settles down to sleep in its cave where it dreams that it is young again. Henkes takes the reader on a journey through all the seasons in Bear’s dreams, illustrating the changes in nature in each season for preschoolers to get a great visual understanding. When Old Bear awakes, it is spring and the world outside the cave is just as beautiful as Bear dreamed it would be.

Disclaimer:

I hope you enjoy these bear stories. I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy reading 🙂

Animals

Cardboard Fuzzy Bear Craft

January 3, 2023January 2, 2023 Jennifer

I love when I can reuse something materials that I have on hand, like cardboard boxes! My preschooler and I turned a piece of a cardboard box into something new — a carboard fuzzy bear craft! Not only did my son have fun, but this project is great way to incorporate different textures into his activities and help him develop fine motor skills!

Supplies Needed:

cardboard
brown yarn (or whatever color yarn you like)
pompom
googly eyes (we used size 1 inch)
scissors
pen
ribbon/cord for hanging
white glue
tape

How To:

1. Using a pen, I drew a basic bear head shape on part of a cardboard box and cut it out. It is a little more than 4 inches tall.

2. Next, I took some fuzzy brown yarn and cut off a piece that was about 36 inches long. I taped one end of the yarn to the back of the bear and my 3 year-old wound the yarn around the bear to give it “fur.” When he was finished wrapping, I taped the other end of the yarn to back of the bear’s head too.

3. My preschooler picked out yellow googly eyes and a yellow pompom for a nose. The googly eyes were stickers so they were easy to attach. We used white glue to stick on the pompom nose.

4. After the glue was dry, I used my pen to punch a hole in the top of the bear. My son picked out a blue cord and I tied it on so he could hang up his cute, fuzzy bear craft.

My son really wanted to give his bear to his grandfather, so his cardboard fuzzy bear craft ended up being a cute present.

Check out my Crafts Page for more things to make your child!

Animals, Winter

Snow Animals Books

December 29, 2022December 29, 2022 Jennifer

Although some animals hibernate in the winter or migrate to warmer places, there are still plenty of animals who love the snow! In fact, penguins in Antarctica live in snow all year round. Here is a list of 12 snow animals books to read and learn about who lives in the snow.

12 Books about Animals Who Live in the Snow:

1. Who Lives Here? Polar Animals by Deborah Hodge–

This is a fact book about animals who live in the extreme cold. Each page talks about a different animal in a couple, easy to understand sentences that are accompanied by cute pictures. Along the side are additional facts that you can chose to share or not depending on your child’s interest. This book had some of my son’s favorite animals–snowy owls and penguins!

2. The Magical Snow Garden by Tracey Corderoy–

A little penguin named Wellington, who lives in the snow, dreams of his own flower garden. His friends tell him that it is much too cold for flowers to grow here. Nonetheless, Wellington is determined so his best friend, Rosemary, helps him create his own flowers out of bits of paper, springs, gears, and other things that can be repurposed. Together, they create a beautiful garden. Sadly, a snow storm destroys the beautiful flowers. Wellington’s friends won’t let him give up, and together they rebuild the garden better than ever. Preschoolers will adore the cute, whimsical illustrations in this book. And everyone can benefit from the message, “we don’t know until we try.”

3. Winter Dance by Marion Dane Bauer —

This is a sweet story that teaches kids about how animals spend the winter. As the first snowflake falls on the fox’s nose, fox wonders what he is supposed to do in winter. The other forest animals tell him how they prepare for winter. Some fly south, others store food, and some hibernate. Unfortunately none of these ideas will work for fox. Finally, another fox comes along and shares what foxes do in winter — they dance in the falling snow! With such beautiful illustrations, kids will love looking over the pictures and seeing the two foxes twirling about in the snow.

4. Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester–

Here’s a bird who thrives in the snow– meet Tacky, the funniest penguin! He can’t sing, dive, or march the way other penguins do; Tacky does everything his own way. At first this seems to be bad thing, but when the hunters come looking for penguins, Tacky’s odd behavior drives them away! Turns out being yourself is pretty great.

5. Little Owl’s Snow by Divya Srinivasan–

Little Owl is so cute! In this Little Owl story, the forest animals are preparing for winter. Some gather and store food, some hibernate, and some stay awake to play in the snow. Soon winter arrives and leaves a blanket of snow in Little Owl’s forest home. Even though Little Owl misses his hibernating friend, hedgehog, he enjoys the snow with his other friends. Preschoolers will love this bold, bright pictures and gentle story.

6. Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman–

This rhyming, sing-song story follows the pattern of the Ten on the Bed song. The caribou has a sled and soon his nine snow-loving friends join him for a sled ride. One by one, the animals fall off and they form a giant snowball. The animals race the giant snowball down the hill, losing friends as they go. By the bottom of the hill, only the caribou is left on the sled. Your kiddo will giggle as wolf wipes out and fox flips out of the sled. Caribou is lonely and he invites all of his friends to join for another sled ride!

7. Animals Hidden in the Snow by Jessica Rusick–

This book is both tons of fun and offers great information about animals in the snow. Each page takes a look at a different animals and asks the reader to try and spot the animals hiding in the snow. Animals use camouflage to blend in with their surroundings so you have to look carefully. Turn the page to learn interesting facts about the animal you find.

8. A Polar Bear in the Snow by Mac Barnett–

My son really enjoys Mac Barnett’s stories! In this story we get to follow a polar bear on an adventure across a beautiful snow landscape. Sparse text filled with questions to the reader will keep preschoolers engaged. Shawn Harris’ paper collage images are awesome and wonderfully capture the bear’s journey.

9. Polar Bear Babies by Susan Ring —

10. Cozy by Jan Brett–

We were trying to guess what the big wholly animal is and, oh boy, were we wrong. It is a musk ox and they live in Alaska. In this snowy story, Cozy gets separated from his family and gets lonely all by himself. Not to fear because soon other animals seek warmth in Cozy’s fur. We get a great look at different types of animals that live in snow–lemmings, hares, snowy owls, foxes, and wolverines in addition to the musk ox. Cozy’s adventures continue in the sequel, Cozy in Love.

11. Here is Antarctica by Madeleine Dunphy–

This book shows us lots of animals that survive that in the cold in Antarctica. The reader gets to learn about both water and land creatures. The animals who live on the land, live in snow year round. These include three types of penguins (emperor penguins, macaroni penguins, and adelie penguins), leopard seals, crabeater seals, south polar skuas, and the southern giant petrels.

12. Fox Versus Winter by Corey R. Tabor–

Get ready to learn about who migrates, who hibernates, and who stays to enjoy winter in this humorous book. While Fox is one of the animals who doesn’t hibernate or migrate, Fox does NOT like winter. Almost all of his friends either hibernate or migrate, except Rabbit who goes off alone, leaving Fox lonely. Fox gets an idea to make new friends out of snow, but they are not as much fun as his old friends. What’s Fox to do? He decides to fight winter! Get ready to laugh as Fox gets a flame thrower and tries to melt winter. Winter fights back and Fox gets covered in snow. Just then, Rabbit appears. Rabbit teaches Fox to appreciate winter and Fox finds that with a friend by his side, everything can be enjoyable.

I hope you enjoy these snow animals books. I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then I get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy reading 🙂

More Books about Animals in Snow:

Penguin Stories: 10 books about penguins to read with your little one!

Polar Bear Books: 8 books about these beautiful white bears.

Winter Stories: 15 stories about winter that have lots of animals in the snow.

Animals

Preschool Penguin Theme

December 28, 2022December 27, 2022 Jennifer

Penguins are so cute! Preschoolers are fascinated with these awesome birds so I rounded up books, crafts, a song, and some free worksheets so you can add a penguin theme to your preschool activities!

Everything You Need for Creating a Penguin Theme:

Books

Penguins — 10 books about these adorable birds! My son loves penguins and we have read so many penguin books together. We’ve gathered up a list of our favorites to share with you!

Crafts

–Basic Shapes Penguin: print off the free template, color your pieces, and glue them together to form a penguin!

–Toilet Paper Roll Penguin: turn an empty toilet paper roll into a cute penguin with paint, construction paper, and googly eyes. My son really liked this craft and we have a couple cute little toilet paper roll penguins around our house now!

–Egg Carton Penguins: turn an egg carton into a bunch of roly-poly penguins!

Online

-Watch the Monterey Bay Aquarium penguins on their live Penguin Cam! https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams/penguin-cam

-Learn about the Gentoo Penguin from this short video by Nat Geo Kids: https://youtu.be/xnu5htZpruE

Song

To get the second and third verse and list of the actions, check out my post: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/2022/11/27/penguin-action-rhyme/

Worksheets

–Penguin Counting: count how many pictures are in each box and then circle the number.

-Fill in the missing letters in this penguin alphabet worksheet: PENGUIN ALPHABET MAZE

–P is Penguin: trace the letters in the word PENGUIN and color the picture.