We're Going on a Bear Hunt Sensory Story Time

World Book Day 2020 is just around the corner so we have been spending lots of time reading books and doing activities related to our favourites. One of our favourite children's books is 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' by Michael Rosen. This is a story that has enchanted children for generations. I was read it by my parents when I was small and now I read it to my own children, in Turkish as well as English! The book has been translated into many languages and it can be really fun to learn the vocabulary, especially the sound words (swishy, squelch, hoo woo etc.) in another language!


Not only do I sit with my children and read the story to them, we often get up and act out the story too. When my eldest was younger, we went to baby signing classes where we told the story through movement and signing. My children love to join in the actions with me but I also try to come up with different and exciting ways to retell the story too.

This time I thought it would be fun to tell the story through some sensory play. In the book the children and their father go on an adventure to find a bear. Their trail leads them through tall grass, squelchy mud, a deep river, a dark forest and a snowstorm before they finally reach the bear's cave. I set up a sensory trail for the children to explore while we retold the story.

Sensory play is brilliant fun for little ones and through this type of play children can learn so many skills. They can learn cognitive skills, problem solving skills, motor skills, speech and language skills and all these skills will help them to understand about the world around them. 

I lay a big waterproof cloth on the floor and placed different trays and containers onto it each filled with something to represent the different elements of the story. 

For the grass, I used real grass from the garden.

For the river, I filled a container with water.

For the mud, I created some mud out of hot chocolate powder and water.

For the forest, I collected some real sticks and leaves from the garden.

For the snowstorm, I used bicarbonate of soda.

Finally, we created a cave out of blocks and some brown card, and then added a bear!

I added some figures at the start of the trail (by the grass), grabbed the book and sat down with my children to read and have some fun!

The children loved this sensory story time. They played with it so much and, of course, it ended up a big mess!

Have you read 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' before? Which language did you read it in? Have you ever tried setting up a sensory story time experience for your children? Do you have anything exciting planned for World Book Day 2020? Let me know in the comments below!

This article is part of the World Book Day 2020 Blog Hop! Here are links to the other articles that are participating in the blog hop.


Fatima's first fasting day book review by Ilma Education

4 reasons why we should read aloud with our kids at bedtime by Knowledge Dunes

Cactus Hotel book review by Fragile Vessel

Loudmouth Line and Decent Dot book review by Umm Afraz

A sensory story with Walter's Wonderful Web by Our Amanah's our futures

Tips for encouraging your child to read by Muslim Mummy

How to find time to read with your child every day (even when you are a busy mother!) by Jeddah Mom

10 tips on how to have successful read aloud time by Let's Learn Mama

Additional articles of interest

Top 10 books for preschoolers

The Rhyming Rabbit - storytelling, puppets and poetry

Den building - Peter Rabbit's burrow

Beatrix Potter unit study

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