Last Updated on February 11, 2024 by Sheryl Cooper
Inside: Add this toddler and preschool bear craft to your winter hibernation theme. A fun stuffed art activity that can also be part of circle time!
Here’s an easy winter art activity that young children love!
Create bears out of two sheets of paper that have been cut into a bear shape, stuffed and stapled closed, and decorated by the children.
Read some bear books, create a simple bear cave, and put the bears to sleep in the cave.
A simple toddler and preschool bear craft that involves not only the art table, but circle time, too!
You can find an older version of this activity here.
I love using scraps of what we already have.
It justifies why I hang on to so much! 🤣
CLICK HERE to see some of our favorite recycled art activities!
When I received a large package that was stuffed with lightweight brown paper (sort of like craft paper), I kept it around for awhile hoping I would come up with something.
And that “something” was a bear.
Ten bears, to be exact.
Since my two and three year olds loved each of our circle time discussions about how bears sleep a lot during the winter, I wanted to connect an art activity to this.
That’s when I came up with this simple toddler and preschool bear craft.
When I shared it on Instagram, I got so many messages asking if I could go into more detail about how they were made.
So, here it is!
Toddler and Preschool Bear Craft for Winter Hibernation
Making the Bears
Here’s what we used:
- Bear template (I used our free bear coloring page)
- Brown paper (I used packaging paper, but you can use a roll of craft paper)
- Crayon or marker to trace the bear on to the brown paper
- Scissors to cut out the bear
- Stapler filled with staples
- Something to stuff the bears with (I had shredded packaging paper, but you could use any type of paper (lightweight is best) or fiberfill)
Directions for creating each bear:
- You will want to cut out 2 bears for each child.
- First, take your template and trace around it on the brown paper.
- Then, cut the bears out of the brown paper.
- Take two of the paper bears and staple all the way around, leaving an opening at the bottom and top.
- Gently place the filling inside the bear. I didn’t overstuff ours. I added just enough so make them a bit puffy.
- I pushed the filling into the top hole and then into the bottom hole.
- Once the bear is stuffed, staple the bottom and top closed.
Decorating the Bear
Here’s what we used (feel free to add whatever you have on hand):
- White glue
- Brown tempera paint
- Paintbrushes
- Googly eyes
- Scraps of scrapbook paper
- Felt pieces
- Buttons
Setting Up This Activity
- Pour the glue/paint mixture into small containers, one for each bear. (I just eyeball how much of each – it doesn’t need to be exact.)
- Pour the rest of the materials into individual containers.
- At each tray provide a bear, a paint brush, glue/paint mixture, and container of scraps and eyes.
Start creating!
Brush paint over the bear.
Younger children most likely won’t cover the entire surface and that’s okay, but there needs to be enough so the pieces stick.
Then, the small pieces can be pressed on top of the paint/glue.
When finished, let dry on a flat surface.
Winter Bear Circle Time Activity
Prior to creating these winter bears, I made a simple den using a box and a fitted white sheet, both recycled from home.
I placed it in our circle time area and we again talked about how bears sleep a lot during the cold winter days.
I gave each child their bear and they placed it inside the den, saying, “Good night, bear!”
CLICK HERE to find more winter circle time ideas.
More Bear Ideas
Art: Bear Tracks
Art: Winter Bear Bubble Wrap Prints
Circle Time: Winter Bear Props (Freebie)
Fine Motor: Bear Color Pages (Freebie)
Counting: Bear 1-10 Counting Cards (Freebie)
Colors: Bears and Caves Color Matching
Light Table: Bears and Caves
Dramatic Play: Bears Den Play
Bear Books
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