Preschoolers can engage all of their senses with a teddy bear art center. Create a simple bear template and trace it onto heavy paper. Allow the preschoolers to cut out the bear shape if they are able. Provide the children with a variety of art supplies to decorate their bears. They can use white glue and old coffee grounds to create a bear with an interesting scent and texture. Chocolate pudding doubles as a sweet and squishy finger paint. Cotton balls, yarn and shredded paper are also creative options to add texture to the bears.
Teach important math concepts such as sizes, sorting and one-to-one number correspondence with a teddy bear math table. Provide small, medium and large bears for sorting activities. The preschoolers can group the bears by size, or line the bears up according to size. Teach one-to-one number correspondence with the small plastic teddy bears available in most teaching stores. Write numbers 1 through 10 on paper plates and have the children count out the correct number of bears for each plate.
Increase family involvement with a traveling teddy bear. Choose a special teddy bear to go home with a different student every weekend. Encourage the families to take the bear on outings and include it in family activities. Ask the families to help their preschooler write a story and draw a picture about the bear's weekend adventure. Let the preschooler "show and share" his story with the class on Monday.
Preschoolers need daily active play. Use teddy bears to get their bodies moving in fun and different ways. Instead of "Simon Says" play "Teddy Says." Put on a song and encourage the preschoolers to dance like bears -- stomping their feet and making large movements with their bodies. Create a relay race using teddy bears. Place a pile of teddy bears at one end of the room and a hula hoop at the other. Tell the preschoolers that the hula hoop is the "bear cave" and they need to move all of the bears to the cave.