Fun with Character: We’re Going On A Bear Hunt!
The Bear Hunt song is a favorite of scout troops and has many variations. It is based on a book of the same title written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. In the original story, the bear hunt encounters many obstacles. For each obstacle, the answer is to go through it. Our troops did the song as an echo, and each of the obstacles presented a different answer. For one, you went over, another was through, still another was around. In either version, you can identify that each obstacle must be overcome to achieve the goal of finding a bear. The story and the song/chant both lend themselves to great sound effects and accompanying actions that make the song fun to perform. The following link is the website for the book and has a video of the author performing it. https://www.jointhebearhunt.com/Below is a YouTube version of the song as an echo (which makes it easy to teach). The little girl who performs it puts her own spin on the song but you’ll get the idea. You can choose to use one of these videos to teach the song to the class or teach it to yourself so you can do that. There are many video versions and lyrics that you are sure to find one with which you are comfortable. You may even have a scout in your class willing to teach the song.
To process this activity, ask these questions:
Did you like the bear hunt song?
Had you heard it or a version of it before?
Did you think any of the obstacles would stop the hunt?
Why is it important not to let obstacles stop you when you want to do something?
Do you think you can remember the bear hunt when you face an obstacle?