Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr. is one of my kids’ favorites books! The repetitive text and animal sounds make it especially appealing to preschoolers. There are so many fun ways you can play and learn with the story that we just had to choose it for this month’s Virtual Book Club for Kids!
The story is very similar to his Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? book except that instead of seeing a new animal on each page you hear the animal. My preschooler loves to make the animal sound each time and read along with me. This is definitely a story that you can read over and over again.
After we read the story the whole family played a game of Animal Sound Charades!
Basically we took turns making animal sounds and guessing which animal it was, but it’s harder and funnier than it sounds. The animals in the story make sounds we had to make up (like the fluting flamingos!) which led to lots and lots of giggles!
My kids have played many times since and it is a great way for young kids to play with story comprehension and recall.
Then it was time for cupcakes! Themed snacks are always a favorite book activity, especially when there are treats involved.
These Polar Bear Cupcakes are sooooo easy to make. All we did was frost the cupcakes with white frosting. Then I cut a marshmallow in half width-wise with kitchen scissors a then cut the circles in half to make the ears. The kids placed them on with M&M eyes and a nose and we were ready to eat!
Here’s the affiliate link for Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? if you want to find out more about the story!
What is your favorite Bill Martin Jr. book? If you have blogged about it, we’d love for you to link up your post in the linky below!
- Link up only posts inspired by Bill Martin Jr. that share children’s book inspired crafts, activities, recipes, etc. Any other posts will be deleted.
- Visit other blog posts on the linky and comment on or share the ones you love!
You can also find loads of Virtual Book Club ideas organized by author and topic on our Virtual Book Club for Kids Pinterest Board that we just started and will continue to be adding to!
Come sign up for our Virtual Book Club Newsletter too and check out the new Virtual Book Club for Kids blog!
Coming over from the Virtual Book Club blog hop and… those cup cakes are so stinking cute! They would be great for a “polar bear, polar bear” themed birthday party!
That would be a fun party theme! Thanks for stopping by!
I love the animal sounds in that book too! Makes for a great read aloud. I love your cupcakes. We could totally do that!
The game was such a hit! And so simple! Thanks Jackie!
Yum! This type of activity is right up my alley! Simple and adorable! I may be stealing this to do with my preschool co-op soon. So glad you are part of VBC this year.
Thanks Kristina! It was definitely perfect for little ones!
I’m always looking for ideas to do with my mommy group, this would be fun!
Thanks Clarissa!
Hi
I do teacher training workshops. I am writing to ask permission to use the photo of the polar bear cupcake in a Power Point Presentation. I will credit your site and provide your URL.
Please respond to: epostman3@cox.net
I look forward to hearing from you.
Hi Diane!
I bet we could work that out. Will you please email me megan (dot) sheakoski (at) gmail (dot) com? Thanks!