Polar Bear Activities, Crafts, Lessons, and Printables

Polar Bear Crafts and Arctic Crafts, Activities, and Printables

Polar bears are native to the icy cold water of the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding areas. Sadly however, due especially to global warming, the polar bear is classified as a vulnerable species.

Arctic and Antarctica
Talk to children about polar animals. Find the Polar Regions (the Arctic and the Antarctica on a globe or on a map). Ask children if they can name some animals that live in those cold places. Write them down. Ask them how the weather is like in the Polar Regions. Record answers.

Explain that the area in the North Pole is called the Arctic. In the arctic there is no land, only huge sheets of floating ice. The Inuit people live in the arctic area. They hunt seals and caribou for their food. 

Discuss that it is very cold in the regions around the poles. The land is covered by snow and ice all year round. Discuss how we need to dress when it's cold outside, and how they think the animals keep warm. Discuss that polar bears only live in the arctic and penguins only live south of the equator. Seals, different kinds of whales, arctic hares, arctic wolves and foxes, and the walrus are some of the animals that live in the Polar Regions.

Place a picture of a globe on the board. Let children draw their favorite polar animals, and then pin it to the animal's location and habitat. 

Global Warming and the polar bear
Explain Global Warming is reducing the amount of pack ice in the Arctic, which polar bears depend on for survival. Scientists predict that American polar bears could face extinction in the next 50 years if urgent actions aren't taken to help them survive.

Use this Help save the polar bear lesson to help children understand that climate change is causing ice caps to melt and makes it harder for the polar bears to find food.

Polar Bear Circle Time and Movement Activities

Begin by reading the book National Geographic Readers: Polar Bears. This non-fiction reader is a great source of simple and interesting facts about polar bears. 

Polar Bear, Polar Bear Rhyme and Movment

Polar bear, Polar bear,
Turn around,
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Make no sound.

Polar bear, Polar bear,
Dance on your toes,
Polar bear, Polar bear.
Touch your nose.

Polar bear, Polar bear,
Show your paws.
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Hide your claws.

Polar bear, Polar bear,
Reach up high
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Wink one eye.

Polar bear, Polar bear,
Say good-night,
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Shut your eyes tight.

Polar bear, Polar bear,
Wake up now,
Polar bear, Polar bear,
Take a bow.

Preschool Activities: 

Media Root

Free Polar Bear Printables and Activities

Polar Bear pre-writing Skills	Polar Bear Snack	Arctic Animals Printables	Help Save the Polar Bear Rhyme	Polar Bear Coloring Page

View also our Twiggle Magazine polar bear edition with Free polar bear crafts, lessons, and activities

Polar Bear Language Arts and Critical Thinking

Would a bear be a good pet? Ask children if a polar bear would be a good pet. Record the answers on a graph. Discuss with the children the reasons why a polar bear would not be a good pet I.e., eats lots of seals, claws, dangerous for humans, they might hurt us, like icy cold weather.

Paint like a Polar Bear Have children put a pair of white socks on both their hands and let them pretend to be polar bears painting. Provide packing paper and finger paint and have the children paint like a seal or penguin might paint. You may want to have them put a pair of clean socks on their hands to help them imagine not having fingers to use.

Polar Bear Games

Label iceberg cut-outs with different letters or words. Let children walk around like polar bears. When the music stops the polar bears stand by an iceberg. Choose a couple of children to identify the letter or read the word on the iceberg. 

Polar Bear Rhymes and Songs:

The Polar Bear Lives in the Arctic

The polar bear lives in the Arctic,
And he never gets cold in a storm,
He loves to swims in the icy cold water,
And his skin keeps him warm.

The polar bear has a white coat,
And he walks quite slow.
It's hard to see just where he is...
Because he is white as snow.

Marco the Polar Bear

Marco the Polar Bear, (Make circle in front of body with arms.)
White as the snow, (Extend arms out proudly.)
Sat down on the ice (Sit down.)
Near the cold water?s flow. (Shiver.)
"Lunch! I need lunch," he said. (Rub stomach.)
"I'll make a wish." (Put hands together to make wish.)
He stuck in his paw (Put right hand down.)
And up it came with a fish! (Hold up right hand and smile.)
~Author Unknown

Polar Bear Facts:

• The polar bear is the world's largest land predator.
• They can be found in the Arctic, the U.S. ( Alaska), Canada, Russia, Denmark (Greenland), and Norway.
• Females usually only have two cubs and they have these babies in a cave that they've dug in a large snowdrift. The babies are about the size of a rat and weigh only a pound.
• Male polar bears may grow up to 10 feet tall and weigh can over 1400 pounds. Females can grow to 7 feet and weigh up to 650 pounds. 
• In the wild polar bears live up to age 25.
• A polar bear's fur is not white. Each hair is clear hollow tube. Polar bears look white because each hollow hair reflects the light. On sunny days, the polar bear?s hair traps the sun?s heat to keep the bear warm.
• Polar bear fur is oily and water repellent. The hairs don?t mat when wet, allowing the polar bears to easily shake off water and ice.
• Polar bears have wide front paws with webbed toes that help them swim. They paddle with their front feet and steer with their hind feet. Their paw pads are rough, helping to them from slipping on the ice.
• Polar bears have been known to swim 100 miles at a stretch.
• Polar bears primarily eat seals.
• A male polar bear is called a boar and a female polar bear is called a sow.