I was looking forward to our "Forest Friends" theme because we have two favorite books that I knew I wanted to include - We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury and The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Both tell fun tales of adventures through the woods and I was really excited to bring both to life with some fun activities I found.
Bear Hunt Sensory Play
We're Going on a Bear Hunt is just a great kids story. We have a version that came with a CD so we can listen to the story narrated. My son loves the music on the CD and it really builds anticipation when reading the story. When I came across these ideas for a sensory enhanced "bear hunt" at Make Do and Friend, I knew it was the perfect way to bring the story even more to life for my toddler.
We set up sensory bins to represent each part of the bear hunt - the long wavy grass, deep cold river, thick oozy mud, deep dark forest, swirling whirling snowstorm, and narrow gloomy cave. I primarily used the ideas presented by Make Do and Friend, but I used ice that I crushed in the blender to serve as snow (instead of the gel from inside a diaper as the site suggested).
This activity was so very fun, and perfect for a young toddler. We read the story once first with just the CD. We then added the sensory bins one at a time at the appropriate point in the story. Finally, I laid out the bins and just let him do his thing. The forest, mud, and grass all ended up in the "river" - but he had lots of fun exploring!
The Gruffalo with Finger Puppets
The Gruffalo is a really fun story that tiny mouse who uses his wit to outsmart several forest "friends" who'd like to make lunch out of him! For older kids, it provides an opportunity to talk about using logic and words to get yourself out of a sticky situation. It also introduces the idea of habitats, which would be a fun angle to explore if my son was a bit older. We just focused on having fun telling the story and used finger puppets from gruffalo.com to bring it to life (this website has many more Gruffalo related activities that would be appropriate for older kids).
Gruffalo "Crumble"
At the end of The Gruffalo, the little mouse tricks the big scary Gruffalo into being afraid of him (and therefore not eating him) and claims that his favorite food is "Gruffalo Crumble." I decided to make some "Gruffalo Crumble" as a snack to go along with the story. While my toddler couldn't connect the dots to find it fun that we were eating "Gruffalo Crumble," he had lots of fun helping me make it and absolutely loved eating it all up! We read this story with some older children as well - and they found the idea really fun and desperately wanted to know what "Gruffalo Crumble" actually was (they just weren't buying that it was made out of real Gruffalo)!
I've been making this recipe for a while and it came time mind first when I thought of something crumbly and delicious. It's soft enough for a younger child, but delicious for all ages! The best part is that it is super healthy.
Gruffalo Crumble
Mix all ingredients together and drop small spoonfuls on to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes. You can also add other fruit or spices. I decided to make some with pureed blueberry as well this time. The most important thing is moisture balance - so after you've made it once and know what the consistency should be like, it's pretty easy to adjust the recipe.
I've been making this recipe for a while and it came time mind first when I thought of something crumbly and delicious. It's soft enough for a younger child, but delicious for all ages! The best part is that it is super healthy.
Gruffalo Crumble
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 pureed bananas
Mix all ingredients together and drop small spoonfuls on to a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes. You can also add other fruit or spices. I decided to make some with pureed blueberry as well this time. The most important thing is moisture balance - so after you've made it once and know what the consistency should be like, it's pretty easy to adjust the recipe.