DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Circle Bear Paper Craft
Shapes, Scissor Skills, Colors, and Counting Practice

Contributed by Leanne Guenther

This craft can be used to teach a variety of skills.  You don't have to use all the thoughts for lessons... just choose the ones you're working on with your child.

OK, it's time to do a craft for my youngest!  She's just beginning to make crafts and we're working on SHAPES!  Make sure you reinforce the fact that these are all circles when you're doing the craft.  You can count the circles and sort the circles.  You can also talk about other things that are shaped like circles (like the sun or a lollipop).

The Bear song    The Bear Went Over the Mountain Song

Thoughts for the lesson:

SCISSOR SKILLS:

• This craft has lots of nice large circles to cut out -- good scissor practice! 
• You can precut the template into separate pieces (roughly) to make it a bit easier for beginning crafters to cut out the circles.

SHAPES:

• have the children make a pile of all the circles and a separate pile of all the squares.

COLORS:

• verbally instruct the children on how to assemble the shapes using the colors of the shapes.  (ie:  Take the red circle and glue it on the black circle.).

SIZES:

• show the children two circles and ask -- is this one bigger, smaller or the same size as that one.

COUNTING:

• Count the circles.
• Count the circles of various sizes

Materials:

• a printer,
• glue,
• scissors,
• something to color with,
• a piece of paper.

Instructions:

Optional:  Circle bear will fit nicely on an old CD Rom.  You can cover with clear contact paper and use as a coaster.

• Print out the template.
• Sort the circles into big, medium, small, smaller, smallest (this is harder for the little ones than it sounds but is great practice!)
• Glue the medium circle (the muzzle) onto the big circle (the head).
• Glue the smallest circle (the nose) onto the muzzle.
• Glue the small circles (ears) onto the head and the smaller circles (ear middles) onto the ears.
• Print the template on heavy construction paper or card stock.  Then glue a popsicle stick or Tongue Depressor onto the bear to make a puppet (if you don't have either, you can always tape a pencil on).

Templates:

• Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
• Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

Template   (color)   or   (B&W)