Activities - Bear Hunt

Yesterday the twins and I took our elderly relative and her friends on a magical adventure to hunt bears.  This was an Inclusive Activity (suitable for ages 1 - 100+), as when we visit our Great Aunty and her friends (“Jack” and “Gracie”) I still need to be able to include the twins.

Our relative resides in a care home and as with so many the CQC rating is low (adequate requiring improvement) and the activities co-ordinator left about 7 years ago, and has never been replaced.

So, we went on a bear hunt.  We often go (at least twice a month), it’s such a fun activity to do, easy to organise and better still cheap because imagination costs nothing.  The benefits for our relative is that the activity can also encourage independence, social inclusion, communication or expression of feelings.  As well as keeping everyone active (try running around after two 2-year-old boys), as exercise is beneficial for physical and mental health and can improve the quality of life for people at all stages of dementia.

This week was slightly different as SallyAnn who is a new carer to the Home (she’s been employed about 2 weeks) has always come across as standoff-ish and to be brutally honest I’ve not really held out much hope for her, as her “connection” to people has been very hard to develop.  Well, yesterday, she amazed me.  SallyAnn was energetic and enthausiastic, and completely let her guard down.  I quite like SallyAnn now and we all came away completely zonked out.

The Activity

·         The activity itself is simplistic in its premise you need the poem/lyrics

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Michael Rosen Helen Oxenbury

We're going on a bear hunt.

We're going to catch a big one.

What a beautiful day!

We're not scared.

Uh-uh! Grass!

Long wavy grass.

We can't go over it.

We can't go under it.

Oh no!

We've got to go through it!

Swishy swashy!

Swishy swashy!

Swishy swashy!

We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

Uh-uh! A river!
A deep cold river.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.

Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

Splash splosh!

Splash splosh!

Splash splosh!

We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

Uh-uh! Mud!
Thick oozy mud.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.

Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

Squelch squerch!

Squelch squerch!

Squelch squerch!

We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

Uh-uh! A forest!
A big dark forest.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.

Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

Stumble trip!

Stumble trip!

Stumble trip!

We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

Uh-uh! A snowstorm!
A swirling whirling snowstorm.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.

Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

Hoooo woooo!

Hoooo woooo!

Hoooo woooo!

We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

Uh-uh! A cave!
A narrow gloomy cave.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.

Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

Tiptoe!

Tiptoe!

Tiptoe!

WHAT'S THAT?

One shiny wet nose!

Two big furry ears!

Two big goggly eyes!

IT'S A BEAR!!!!

Quick! Back through the cave! Tiptoe! Tiptoe! Tiptoe!

Back through the snowstorm! Hoooo woooo! Hoooo woooo!

Back through the forest! Stumble trip! Stumble trip! Stumble trip!

Back through the mud! Squelch squerch! Squelch squerch!

Back through the river! Splash splosh! Splash splosh! Splash splosh!

Back through the grass! Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy!

Get to our front door.

Open the door.

Up the stairs.

Oh no!

We forgot to shut the door.

Back downstairs.

Shut the door.

Back upstairs.

Into the bedroom.

Into bed.

Under the covers.

We're not going on a bear hunt again.

·         And you need a wild imagination.

The Premise

The premise of the adventure is quite simple, we don’t use any material at the home but our nursey does and it is quite a sensory game (I’m just not sure I can subject 20 65’s and over to cold water in the face).

At nursery, they have zip lock bags filled with sensory materials that you can find for free at home in your garden or kitchen!

·         For the long wavy grass, they have some old thatching reeds that crunch

·         For the deep, cold river they have a bag of blue coloured water

·         For mud, well they quite literally have a bag filled with mud (that my eldest twin tries to eat so double bag)

·         For the snowstorm, its icing sugar

·         For the forest, some broken twigs from around the village

We then hide a bear in a makeshift cave (two chairs’ and a sheet) the bear has been a teddy, a care worker and a resident.  The residents are better because when you find them they roar with all their might and scare the bejeez out of anyone stood too close.

So now you to are ready to “Go on a Bear Hunt”, have fun and let your imagination run WILD