Follow along as we “row” classic children’s literature with Before Five in a Row. Learn more about BFIAR here.
Book Summary
“Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?” is a fun story about a little bear’s daily routine including getting dressed, mealtime, playtime and bedtime.
Notes & Thoughts
With a playful cadence to the rhyme and bright colorful illustrations, this book became an instant favorite. “Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?” provides opportunities to talk about routines, the weather, healthy eating and more. Gabriella was 35 months old when we “rowed” this book.
Activities
- The book’s joyful rhythm introduced the concept of rhyming words and poetry. We identified rhyming words in the story and began to identify rhyming words in other books as well.
- We played with our bear family dress up puzzle which couldn’t have been better suited to go along with this book. The bear faces show many different emotions and was a great opportunity to talk about feelings. We switched up the different outfits so we could help the bears dress for the weather.
- We eagerly awaited Daddy each day as he returned from work and showered him with hugs and kisses just as Jesse Bear does and talked about how families love each other.
- We traced Gabriella’s outline on easel paper and added clothes to make it a “Gabriella Bear.” I had no idea this activity would be so fun, but she was giddy at the idea of tracing herself and the finished product became a cherished piece of art that we displayed for many months.
- The illustrations in the book are bright, colorful and very detailed. We played the “Can you find…” game to point out different details in the story like a newspaper, helicopter, slippers, angel and clock.
- We played a matching game with a printable from HomeschoolCreations.com. She didn’t understand the concept of playing the game with the cards face down like traditional memory would be played, but she enjoyed mixing them all up and finding the pairs.
- I moved a clothes hamper into Gabriella’s room, and she was delighted to start putting her dirty clothes in the hamper all by herself. We talked about keeping her room tidy and in order.
- We traced jumbo magnet letters to spell out B-E-A-R. This was fun, but she wanted to trace everything she could find after this!
- We discussed the concept of healthy foods and treat foods. Gabriella loved the lunch plate printable from HomeschoolShare.com and thought it was great fun to find the foods and put them on the plate while I read the story.
- We talked about the weather and how it affects what we choose to wear. I found this weather spinner at the Target Dollar Spot which we used each morning before we got dressed. We also used it while playing with our bear family dress up puzzle.
- We acted out parts of the story and had many giggles doing it. Gabriella loved it when we acted out having ants in our pants, getting stuck in our chairs and other fun parts of the story.
- We worked on sorting colors and learning shapes using a dip tray from Dollar Tree.
- I printed and laminated clothes using patterns from the Before Five in A Row Fold&Learn (sign up for the newsletter to access the Fold&Learns for free) and Gabriella used clothespins to hang them on a makeshift ribbon clothesline. Everything about this activity was a hit. She loved using the clothespins, making patterns with the clothes, and ripping the clothes off of the line.
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