Blubbery

As part of our Arctic Animal unit, I wanted to illustrate the idea of blubber to my students.  These little polar bears were the perfect answer.

To get started, we explored the concept of blubber with the famous blubber glove.   Instantly, the kids understood the purpose of blubber.

Then, we created these cute little polar bears covered with blubber and fur.  I created a simple black line of a polar bear using clip art.  The kids cut out the bear and laid it on a craft mat.

First, a thick layer of blubber was painted on. The blubber is actually plain old white school glue.  The kids loved painting it on and talked about how thick their "blubber" was.

Next, a fluffy layer of fur was added.  We used batting as the fur but stuffing and cotton balls would also work.

A button eye and felt nose were added using the blubber glue.  This touch gave each bear its own personality.

Once dry (they did take a day to dry due to all the blubber!), the class worked together to make a super cute bulletin board with icebergs in the Arctic Sea.

This was one of those activities that you love as a teacher.  It successfully taught the concept of how polar bears keep warm while also creating a cute class display.