In the Carriage House, our young toddlers have been reading We’re Going on A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. This classic story is about a father and his four young children who as the title suggests, are going on a bear hunt. They cross a field of tall, wavy grass, wade through a deep, cold river, struggle through swampy mud, find their way through a big, dark forest, fight through a whirling snowstorm, and finally enter a narrow, gloomy cave. Through reading this story, our young toddlers have experienced every aspect of the hunt the book describes. Can you guess what they found at the end?

"Oh-oh! Grass!
Long, wavy grass.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.
Oh, no!
We've got to go through it!"
Oh no! We've got to go through it! 
Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy!

“We used cut-up green yarn as our grass. We used our pincher grasp and fine motor skills to pick up the yarn from the ground and move it around."

"Oh, oh! Mud! Thick, oozy mud."
Thick oozy mud. 
We can't go over it, 
We can't go under it. 
Oh no! We've got to go through it! 
Squelch squerch! Squelch squerch! Squelch squerch! 

“To create this thick, oozy mud, we mixed together flour and brown paint to make a thick textured paint. We took turns pouring in our two ingredients then mixed it all up. We enjoyed painting with our paint brushes but after a little time, we couldn't help but feel the textured paint with our hands! Just like mud!”

Uh-uh! 
A snowstorm! 
A swirling whirling snowstorm. 
We can't go over it. 
We can't go under it. 
Oh no! We've got to go through it! 
Hooo wooo! Hooo wooo! Hooo wooo! 

“We used glue and cotton pads as our snow on our white paper.”

"Oh-oh! A river!
A deep, cold river.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.
Oh, no!
We've got to go through it!"
We've got to go through it! 
Splash splosh! Splash splosh! Splash splosh! 

“We all took turns pouring water down our "river". We watched as the water trickled down to the bottom. As we poured more and more water down, it pooled to make our river deeper.”

"We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared."
WHAT’S THAT! 
One shiny wet nose! 
Two big furry ears! 
Two big goggly eyes! 
IT’S A BEAR! 

"We searched our playground to find some bears (stuffed of course). As we searched around for our colorful teddy bears, we listened to the song version of the book which we have been playing on repeat all week long!"