Teachers can have children construct a simple polar bear puppet using a foam cup for the body, white craft paper shapes for the head, arms and ears, a cotton round for the nose and mouth background and a small circle cut from black construction paper for the nose. Children use glue to put the polar bear together, then draw the mouth with a black marker.
Children can create an arctic scene that features a polar bear, icebergs and clouds. For this craft, tearing the shapes rather than cutting them creates a softer effect. Children draw an outline of a polar bear on white construction paper and tear around the outline. They also tear iceberg shapes out of waxed paper, then crumple and smooth the icebergs. The children then glue the polar bear and iceberg shapes onto light or dark blue construction paper and add cotton ball clouds. One variation is to provide children with shapes cut from felt or construction paper. Children can glue these shapes onto a background to create arctic scenes.
Some polar bear crafts are edible and children can enjoy them as snacks. One such craft calls for rice cakes for the head. Children spread cottage cheese for the fur and use black olives or raisins for the eyes, a chocolate sandwich cookie for the nose and mouth area and banana slices for the ears. Children can also make an edible polar bear by placing large and small marshmallows onto toothpicks to make the body, arms and head. Ears are created from jelly bean halves, the nose is a tiny brown M & M and shoestring licorice forms the mouth.
"Polar Bear, Polar Bear, Turn Around" is an active game that gives children the opportunity to practice various body movements. Children memorize a rhyming poem and act out motions such as turning around, dancing on toes, reaching high and winking an eye.
A polar bear fishing game helps children develop hand-eye coordination while they learn about colors and numbers. The teacher provides children with a polar bear "paw" made from a white terry kitchen towel. The mitten-shaped paw contains a small magnet. The children then retrieve colorfully numbered, laminated fish shapes from a bucket of water. Each of the fish has a hidden paperclip to attract the magnet in the paw. Teachers can have the children fish for certain colors or by numbers.