I'M SO EXCITED!

After all these years I still get excited when I think of something new. So, here's a new twist on something I've shared a gazillion times. I call them "Friendship Bears."

Are these cute or what???

Use the attached pattern to make bears for the students in your classroom. Take photos of their faces and run them off to be about 2 1/2" or to fit in the bear's head. Glue their face on the head and then write their name on the body. Start each day by singing the children's names in the song below to the tune of "Twinkle Little Star" as you hold up their bear.

(1st child's name) (1st child's name) who do you see?
I see (2nd child's name) looking at me.
(2nd child's name) (2nd child's name) who do you see?
I see (3rd child's name) looking at me....

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljUjloN1BNSUxlOUU/view?usp=sharing

Hello!
You could also sing their names to the tune of "Good Night, Ladies."

Hello (1st child)!
Hello (1st child)!
Hello (1st child)!
We're glad you're here today!

Hello (2nd child)! and so forth...

Dismissal

Shuffle up the bears and then hold up one at a time to dismiss children to centers, to line up for play, etc.

Partner Fun

Randomly pick 2 bears at a time for partner projects.  Partners could read together, play a game, draw a picture, or do another activity.

Sign In

Place the bears in a basket near the door where the children enter the room each day.  As they come in, they find their bear and then practice writing their name on the sign-in sheet.

        

If You Give a Kid a Hammer...

If you give a child a hammer, she'll find a million things to hammer.  If you make these friendship bears, I bet you can come up with lots of other ways to use them in your classroom.  (Gosh, if you laminated them you could use them all year.)  Please email your ideas to me and I'll share them on my blog.  I can't wait to hear what you come up with!

P.S.  If your class has another animal theme you could adapt this idea.  For example, if your class is "the bees" you could use a bee pattern.  If your class is "the dolphins" make dolphin friends.