Resource Corner

TM

Bears January/February 2020

The number 3 is featured throughout Bears. Counting to 3, finding 3’s, identifying sets of 3, and learning to connect symbols with concepts is great practice for children who are learning their numbers and developing early math skills. How many 3’s and groups of 3 can you and your child locate together throughout these pages?

As adults, we organize animals into scientific categories such as kingdoms, families, and species. To a young child, dogs and bears may be the same, since they are both furry and four-legged. Similarly, two cats may seem very different if one is white and the other is black. Scientific categories are accurate, but given the opportunity to compare and contrast, children generate just as fascinating same /different connections.

It’s a ZOO out there! Bears are wonderful to watch. If you’re fortunate to live near a zoo or park that has a spacious bear animal habitat (especially a polar bear pool), your family may enjoy a trip there after reading Bears. Before you go, check for regular feeding times so you can see the bears at their liveliest. You’ll reinforce learning and foster careful observation skills if you look for polar bear features and behaviors mentioned in these pages:

• How are the bears different from one another and other animals in the zoo? How are they the same?• How many bears are there? How big are they?• Is there a baby? How far will it wander from its mother? • How have the zookeepers created a stimulating environment for the bears?

• BearsWhere in the WORLD? Reading Resource

Every title in the Zootles series is designed to be used for fun

and learning, and as a reading resource as well. The pages

are written simply and address various stages of emerging

literacy, and they encourage new readers to exercise their

new skills at just the right level. Reading Zootles together will

provide “together time” for you and your child—and reinforce vocabulary, comprehension, and early reading skills, too.

The Three Bears

There are 3 bears in this picture. Can you find them? Can you find 3 of any other kinds of animals?

Bear starts with “b.” What do the other animals’

names start with?

Copyright © 2020 by The National Wildlife Federation®

Fun PagesTM

Most of these bears are different, but there are two bears that are identical, or exactly the same. Can you find them?

Where’s ThatPair?

Where’s ThatPair?

Fun PagesTM

Copyright © 2020 by The National Wildlife Federation®

Resource Corner

TM

• Very Hairy, Very Bear-y Bears! (p. 1) Preschoolers are proud of their counting skills. Whether your child is just learning to 1-2-3 or can already count to fourteen, the opening pages provide more than meets the eye when it comes to counting.

• ZOOTLES TO-DO: Not only can you count the bears in this picture—you can count the bear legs. How many bear ears are there? Bear noses?

• Bears, Bears, Bears! (p. 2-3) helps your child appreciate just how many species of bears there are and the range of environments that they call home.

• ZOOTLES TO-DO: Chances are, there’s more than one stuffed bear in your house. Bring them all out and start comparing them with the photos. You may have a panda or a brown bear that’s pretty similar to the real thing, but you’ll have to work harder to find same and different when faced with that fluffy pink-and-purple teddy.

• Food for Three (p. 4-5) teaches about the diversity of foods bears eat, but also provides an opportunity for young children to practice eye-hand coordination as they trace the maze routes with their fingers. If your child isn’t yet able to hold out her finger, let her find the route with a closed fat marker.

• ZOOTLES TO-DO: How about serving a “beary good meal” one day for lunch?

Main course: Black bear’s favorite fresh-caught trout (fish sticks) served with a side of panda’s preferred bamboo shoots (check the Asian foods section of the supermarket). Microwave the shoots and add a dash of soy sauce, good with some rice or couscous.

Dessert: Put greedy grizzly’s berries and honey, some ice cubes in honor of the honorable polar bear, and maybe some yogurt, in a blender for a bear-rific dessert smoothie.

• Little Cubs (p. 6-7) provides a photo montage of the many ways that mother bears care for their young. Take a moment to ponder the ways we’re the same as and different from other mammalian parents. Those parental instincts aren’t unique to us!

• ZOOTLES TO-DO: Do you have a hard drive loaded with photos of you and your child doing just about everything? Why don’t the two of you print some of your favorites and make your own photo montage on a piece of brightly colored posterboard? Label “feeding,” “playing,” and, of course, “snuggling.”

• Get up close and personal with the bear family when you read How Now, Big Bear? (p. 10-11). Size, texture, and temperament are some of the attributes that make bears so fascinating. How can something be big and possibly aggressive, but still seem cuddly and endearing at the same time? Is there another creature that poses this paradox?

• ZOOTLES TO-DO: Part of the bear’s appeal is the lushness of his coat. Since petting a bear is strictly off limits, help your child explore textures by touching things that are more within reason. Compare your dog’s coat with that of your neighbor’s dog, or your dog with your cat. Does Mom’s hair feel different from Dad’s? Which is softer, the carpet or the bath towel?

• Linda L. Covella’s endearing Barry’s Very Grown-Up Day (p. 12-15) appeals to children because it addresses their concerns about what it means to be grown-up. It’s that very curiosity that stimulates our kids to play “house,” “school,” and “going to work.” The story also makes us wonder about ways being a little bear is like being a little human.

• ZOOTLES TO-DO: Play “bear.” Make a cave by covering a card table or the kitchen table with a large sheet. Your cave must be cozy, so gather up some pillows and blankets too—but don’t get too comfortable, because soon it will be time for you and your cub to go exploring! See what adventures you can have in the woods, but when you get tired, snuggle up in your cave and read Barry’s Very Grown-Up Day one more time.

Sounds otter-rific

to me!

Otto:An adventure-

loving otter Allie:An intrepid hedgehog

What ELSE can we DO?