I adore Ryan T. Higgins' book, Mother Bruce. You can see my original review back here. Basically, I love it because of the humor. So. Funny. But really, it's also the illustrations, the great story, and the ever lovable grumpy bear named Bruce. Also of note, the sequel, Hotel Bruce just came out this week! And I'm doing a giveaway for the book, so head on over to this post if you want a chance to win. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here are some activities that will appeal to the books target audience, kids aged 3 - 7 or there's about.
1. Hibernation craft—What does "hibernate" mean? Bruce would much prefer to sleep. Do some research as to why, and try out this adorable hibernation craft (from Courtney Ward's Lesson Plans).
2. Act like the grumpiest of grumpy bears—stomp, growl, roar--what do grumpy bears do? Doubly fun if you can whip up an easy costume to go with it. Some quick bear ears to stick on your head or claws between your fingers could do the trick!
3. Make a list comparing things you don't like with things you do like—Bruce doesn't like a lot of things, but at least he likes food! What sorts of things make you happy? What things make you sad?
4. Cook (and eat!) eggs in your preferred way—scrambled? Hard-boiled? Or maybe, if you're feeling adventurous, you could try something totally new, like Eggs Benedict.
6. Go grocery shopping and/or to a you-pick farm—How do you get the food you need compared to Bruce? yes, these last few activities could all be done in relation together.
7. How do you fly?—Bruce tries to get the geese to fly in a variety of methods. Try your hand at making some flying machines with paper airplanes. Here are a bunch of folding techniques.
8. Pretend you're at the beach—Bruce gets to go to Miami for the winter. What sorts of things would you do if you got to go to the beach? Lay out your towel in the backyard and have some fun with sand and water.
9. If you had to migrate every year, where would you go?—pick your favorite place in the world and make travel plans.
10. Do some research on geese and try birdwatching—why exactly DO geese fly south for the winter? And do geese actually have a rebellious teenager phase? Perhaps you may be able to go birdwatching after doing your research.
11. Sing "We're Going on a Bear Hunt"—see the YouTube video for lyrics here. Get into it by doing all the actions. Try it out in your backyard or at the park for extra fun.
12. Who is Mother Goose?—read some mother goose rhymes together. If you need a place to start, here is the book that I grew up with: The Real Mother Goose. Bonus points if you can make up your own nursery rhyme afterwards!
13. Family portrait—Bear's family is not what you would expect, but still family! Draw his family portrait, and then one of your own. If you're really fancy, you could even make your portrait out of pumpkins, like this guy did (Mr. Swanson, you are awesome!).
14. Taking care of Baby—have a baby doll? Pretend to be mom or dad and practice the things you need to do to take care of it. Have you fed it? Played? Rocked it to sleep?
15. Read the sequel—See what happens when Bruce comes back from his southerly migration, in Hotel Bruce.
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Whether you do one or all, I hope you have a lot of fun with these ideas to supplement Mother Bruce!
