Play some games to help the kids grasp the concepts behind hibernation, as well as simultaneously improve other skills. For instance, play a rhyming game with the kids where they must pretend to be asleep and hibernating until you say two words that rhyme, in which case the kids should jump up. You can also bring in a teddy bear to represent a real hibernating bear, and then hide it somewhere in the classroom. Give the kids clues to find where the bear is hibernating for the winter.
Spend the day doing hibernation themed activities in your preschool classroom. Have the kids help you turn the room into a hibernation space by making fort-like caves; use bed sheets to cover the desks and chairs, and then place soft pillows and cushions underneath the coverings for a cozy hideout. Pass the time doing quiet activities like reading hibernation stories. You can also switch out the lyrics of popular children's songs like Frere Jacques with hibernation-based lyrics. Make a paper thermometer and secretly increase the temperature throughout the day, having the kids check back periodically to see if it's warm enough to wake up from hibernation yet.
Making hibernation themed crafts is an entertaining way to demonstrate the kinds of places animals choose to hunker down for the winter. For instance, you could make a bear cave using a Styrofoam or paper cup; overturn the cup, cut out a semicircular opening and use tempera paints or markers to color the cave. Make animals like bears using paper cutouts or soft pompoms that can fit through the opening of the cup cave. Other materials you could use to make a crafty hibernation space include shoe boxes, construction paper and cardboard tubes.
Use snack time as a way to teach your preschool class about how animals wake up from hibernation and begin foraging for food using their senses of smell. For an interactive snack, set up various kinds of food throughout the room in bowls or on paper towels. After emerging from hibernation, have the kids use their noses to help them find the snack foods around the room. Some ideas for snacks that will be easy to find just using smell could include popcorn, cinnamon apples or freshly baked treats like chocolate chip cookies.