Going On A Bear Hunt
Traditional, adapted by Eric Litwin and Michael Levine
Lyrics:
Weāre going on a bear hunt!
Weāre gonna catch a big one.
What a beautiful day
Iām not scared.
What's that?
It's tall & tan & troubling
Is that a wheat field?
"Yes, that's a wheat field"
Can't go over it
Can't go under it,
What should we do?
"Let's go through!"
Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh
Weāre going on a bear hunt!
Weāre gonna catch a big one.
What a beautiful day
Iām not scared.
What's that?
It's wide & windy & wet Is that a river?
"Yes, that's a river!"
Can't go over it
Can't go under it,
What should we do?
"Let's go through!"
Splish splash ...
Weāre going on a bear hunt!
Weāre gonna catch a big one.
What a beautiful day
Iām not scared.
What's that?
It's deep & dark & damp Is that a cave?
"Yes, that's a cave!"
Can't go over it
Can't go under it,
What should we do?
"Let's go through!"
Tippy toe....
What's that?
Feels like a nose, & is that an ear?
fur, a mouth Are those teeth?
Yikes! It's a bear!
Tippy toe....
Splish splash ...
Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh
Back into the house,
Shut the door
Lock it!
Whew!
I wasn't scared.
Activities:
This is a fun interactive story. It teaches kids dramatic interpretation, motor coordination(with the hand movements), call & response & also different lengths of notes (swoosh in the first verse is half notes, splish splash is quarter notes, slippety sloppety is eighth note triplets & tippy toe is a variation on eighth note triplets like blues shuffle).
For the choruses, you can simply pat your laps to the beat. Or you can move your arms like youāre walking, and for āIām not scared,ā point to yourself with a proud look on your face.
For āWhatās that?ā & the next line, you can do a ādrum rollā on your lap or knees to create suspense.
For āIs that a ...?,ā point both hands to yourself, and then hold your palms out to your child to indicate they should answer, āYes, thatās a ...ā They may not get it the first verse, but maybe by the 2nd or 3rd verses.
For āCanāt go over it, Can't go under it, What should we do?ā raise your hands up & over, then down & under and then shrug with arms out. Then hold your palms out to the class again to indicate they should answer, āLetās go through!ā
1st verse - for āswoosh swooshā put a hand in front of you and swipe it to the side as if moving tall grass out of your way. Repeat with the other hand back & forth. Do each swoosh as a half note.
2nd verse ā for āsplish splashā pretend to do a freestyle stroke with your arms. Do each movement as a quarter note
3rd verse ā for āslippety sloppetyā you can slide your arms along your lap, doing one arm per each āslippety sloppety,ā as if your arms are sticking to your legs through mud.
4th verse ā for ātippy toeā walk your index and middle finger of one hand along the ground
For āWhat's that?, Feels like a nose, & is that an ear? fur, a mouth, Are those teeth?ā you can feel your own face or your childās. The throw your hands up to scream, āYikes! It's a bear!
Do each movement backwards, shut the ādoorā & pretend to breath hard when saying the last lines.