Bear Storytime Ideas

If your storytime's anything like mine, children love bringing their teddy bears and other stuffed animals to share in the library fun. Capitalize on this by devoting a storytime to their teddy bears with some of these old and new favorites. If you're planning a nighttime storytime and know your theme in advance, you can even invite children to bring their favorite teddy bear with them.

by Arnold Lobel

Found in the short story collection Fables, Bear sets off down the road in a stylish clothes, but soon meets Crow who convinces him his outfit is all wrong. On Crow's advice, Bear hurries home and dons a frying pan hat, bed sheet toga and paper bag for shoes.

While having used puppets for this story before, it works better donning the items myself. Children are better able to grasp the humor of someone trying to walk around balancing a pan on their head while trying to walk in grocery sacks.

Traditional Rhyme

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.

Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.

Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?

Was he bare?

Traditional Story

Though most children will know this fairytale, it's always good to throw in a familiar story. The Goldilocks story is also an easy story to fracture and encourage audience participation. For example, I recently asked children to help me "train" a new storytime lady. I told the story only kept getting the details "wrong." Goldilocks turned into Brownielocks. Bears turned into puppies. Porridge turned into chili. The "storytime trainee" would interrupt trying to correct the story and gently encouraged the children to tell me the correct words. This allowed us to practice narrative skills in a fun group setting, and children mentioned the story for weeks afterward.

Traditional Song

The other day, (echo)

I met a bear, (echo)

Up in the woods, (echo)

A way up there! (echo)

The other day I met a bear,

Up in the woods a way up there!

He looked at me. (echo)

I looked at him. (echo)

He sized up me. (echo)

I sized up him. (echo)

He looked at me, I looked at him,

He sized up me, I sized up him.

He said to me, (echo)

"Why don't you run? (echo)

I see you don't (echo)

Have any gun." (echo)*

*I don't like to mention guns in storytime so instead sing, "He said to me, "Why don't you run? It could be a lot of fun."

He said to me, "Why don't you run?

I see you don't have any gun."

And so I ran (echo)

Away from there (echo)

And right behind (echo)

Me was that bear (echo)

And so I ran away from there,

And right behind me was a that bear.

Ahead of me (echo)

I saw a tree (echo)

A great big tree (echo)

Oh, golly gee! (echo)

Ahead of me there was a tree,

A great big tree, oh, golly gee!

The lowest branch (echo)

Was ten feet up. (echo)

I had to jump (echo)

And trust my luck. (echo)

The lowest branch was ten feet up,

I had to jump and trust my luck.

And so I jumped (echo)

Into the air (echo)

But I missed that branch (echo)

On the way up there. (echo)

And so I jumped into the air,

But I missed that branch on the way up there.

Now don't you fret (echo)

And don't you frown. (echo)

I caught that branch (echo)

On the way back down. (echo)

Now don't you fret and don't you frown,

I caught that branch on the way back down.

That's all there is. (echo)

There ain't no more (echo)

Until I meet (echo)

That bear once more. (echo)

That's all there is, there ain't no more,

Until I meet that bear once more.

The end, the end (echo)

The end, the end (echo)

The end, the end (echo)

The end, the end! (echo)

The end, the end, the end, the end,

This time it really is the end!

Not all children's CDs are created equal, and sometimes we get stuck in a rut using the same CDs each week. If you're feeling a little adventurous, try these versions of traditional favorites in your next bear storytime.

Did I miss your favorite bear books, rhymes, songs or chants to share in storytime? Please share below.