Inside: This paper plate polar bear craft turns into a puppet that toddlers can use as a prop. Perfect for circle time while reading polar bear books!
One of my favorite ways of getting our toddlers involved in circle time is with props.
I’ve talked about it in the video My Secret to a Successful Circle Time.
Props get the children engaged.
They become part of the activity instead of just sitting and listening.
I truly believe this is why our 2 year olds enjoy our gatherings on the carpet.
They are involved.
And that is what I consider successful.
How to Make Polar Bear Masks for a Toddler Winter Activity
Watch the video:
What we used:
Paper plates (the cheap flimsy kind work great)
Black construction paper
Black crayon or marker
Because 2 year olds have a short attention span, I assembled the puppets before we meet at the art table.
Assembling the polar bear masks:
Cut small circles from a few of the extra paper plates so that you have 2 ears for each mask that is being made.
Cut 2 holes for each paper plate. These will be for the eyes to look through.
Cut circles from black construction paper and set aside. These will be the noses that the children will apply.
Staple 2 ears on each mask. Use the crayon or marker to create dark color in the middle of the ears.
Staple 1 large craft stick to the bottom of each mask.
At the art table:
Provide a container for each child that has an even amount of paint, glue, and shaving cream.
Add a brush.
Invite the children to apply the paint/glue/shaving cream mixture to the front of the mask. Then add the nose.
Allow to thoroughly dry.
They are now ready to be used during circle time!
When the children first held up their polar bear masks, they had the front facing them.
This actually makes sense, as this is the only way they could see the face!
But then they turned them around.
Mighty polar bears!
We then read the book Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You See?
And we marched around with our masks to music.
Related posts:
How to Make an Itsy Bitsy Spider Puppet with Toddlers
Easy Ways to Use Rhythm Sticks in the Classroom
Planning your toddler winter theme? We’ve done the work for you!
I’m so excited to be one of the 5 co-authors of an entire series of toddler lesson plans.
These winter lesson plans for toddlers focus on hands-on, multi-sensory, low-prep activities. This theme contains 20 activities designed to help you reach the skills for your toddler throughout the year. We’ve done the activity planning so you don’t have to!
Here’s a look at the skills covered in the lesson plans:
- Counting
- Pre-writing
- Literacy
- Social and Emotional Well Being
- Shapes
- Number Sense
- Music
- Gross-Motor
- Fine-Motor
- and much more!
What you will find inside:
Skills: a detailed skills list to help you visualize the development in the activity.
Materials: Items to gather before doing the activity
How to: Best read before the activity is prepared to understand how to present it and have toddler engage in the activity.
Extensions: A place to see all the suggestions the teachers have made to take this activity a little further. Or make it simpler.
Modifications: Things that can be added or switched out in the activity.
CLICK HERE for more information!
Check out our favorite winter supplies and toys for the classroom:
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