Maybe you’ve been learning about hibernation all week… maybe you just like a good party. Either way, a hibernation party is a ton of fun!! This is a great party to have with friends right before winter break (which is what we usually do) or a fun way to celebrate winter in January. Check out the Hibernation Celebration page for some more ways to learn about hibernation or just dive right into the snacks! Below there are ideas for: storing up for the winter (snacks), making your den cozy (activities) and training for hibernation (games).
Store up for Winter
Mobile Hibernation Snack Necklace
One of the most important parts of hibernation is storing up tons of food and you never know when you might get hungry! Cue the mobile hibernation snack necklace, keep your snacks close.
Materials/ Ingredients:
- Baker’s Twine
- Blunt tapestry needles
- An assortment of foods with holes (pretzels. gummy savers, round cookies, cheerios etc.)
- An assortment of foods that are easily strung (popcorn, marshmallows, grapes etc)
Method:
Cut twine in lengths that can be tied into a loop and easily draped over the head. (ie big enough to safely get on and off.)
Set out bowls of snack with holes in them and let each kid string their own necklace.
Knot them closed and have a snack anytime you get peckish!
Edible Hibernation Dens
Have your den and eat it too! The kids asked to make gingerbread dens at the party but to keep things simpler we went with rice crispy dens. They were super easy for them to make– the kids formed their own dens, although for younger friends I’d probably pre-form them. They then decorated and chose an animal to hibernate inside. You can have everything measured out before the party so that it’s quick to mix of the caves once teh kids are ready to make them.
Ingredients:
For the rice cereal treats:
3 TBS butter
10 oz. mini marshmallows
6 cups cocoa puffed rice cereal
to decorate:
Candy rocks, gumdrops, assorted canies
animal cracker, teddy grahams and/or gummy mice or other animal shaped snacks
Method:
Melt the butter and marshmallows in a large saucepan over medium heat, Stir until smooth.
Put the puffed rice in a large bowl and pour the marshmallow butter mixture over top.
Stir until well combined and slightly cooled.
Put a scoop on each kids plate (check to see how hot they are first) and let them squish away. It helps to spray your hands with oil first, but its a messy project.
Decorate with candies and put your animal inside so they can hibernate. (or you know get eaten…)
Hibernating Snake Bread
Many snakes hibernate- (or brumate) in big piles to stay warm. These breadstick snakes are easy peasy to make and add some slightly more healthy options to the party. I had intended to make them from crescent rolls or the like, but my husband came home with fully baked croissants and looked confused when I said that wasn’t what i had asked for lol. I ended up using leftover pizza dough which worked great. Just roll your dough of choice into worms and coil them into a variety of snake shapes! I gave mine peppercorn eyes as well.
Vegetable Dens & Trail Mix Bar
Again shamelessly trying to increase the healthy foods here- cut a bunch of veggies into planks and stack them up like lincoln logs. Invite guests to make their own veg tower structures. (And hopefully eat some…) A make your own trail mix bar is another easy way to get some non-candy food in play. And bonus it makes a lot of sense for a hibernator to stock up on nutrient dense food like nuts and berries!
Hibernating Turtle Cookies
I found some turtle cookies on pinterest and was so excited to make them- they were adorable, but terrible. So I remade them with a sugar cookie dough that I knew tasted good and they were a hit! Of course I had to give them some crushed cookie mud to hibernate in…
Method:
Make your favorite sugar cookie dough and and add 1-2 tsp of powdered matcha tea to 3/4 of the dough leaving the rest natural.
Use a cookie scoop to make balls of the green dough. Flatten slightly with your palm.
With the natural dough make four little legs, a tail and a head. For the head(s) roll a small ball and cut it in half.
Nestle the limbs and head under the green shell and push down to stick everything together.
Use a fork to make cross hatches on the back of the shell and poke eyes with a skewer or toothpick. Cook according to your recipe. Serve with crushed chocolate cookies for mud!
Make your Den Cozy
Design a Den
Design your own den without the pesky laws of gravity to hold you back! Be as whimsical as you want- what would you want to hibernate and be cozy for months?
Build a Den
Now that you’ve drawn an imaginary den- try to make a real one, either with natural materials outside or with blankets inside.
Knit a Tiny Scarf
This is a fun and easy way to make a knitted scarf for a favorite stuffed animal so that they can be cozy while hibernating. It’s easy enough for young kids, but still engaging for older ones who may already know how to knit. I am a reasonably skilled knitter and crocheter, but I still enjoy making these little tubes and they are really accessible for people without experience and/or younger friends. It’s a very meditative process. The knitting tubes make use of materials that would otherwise be discarded which I always like to see.
Materials:
- toilet paper tubes
- straightish sticks a little longer than your tube
- tape or rubber bands
- yarn
Make sure your sticks extend a 1/2 inch or so above the top of your tube, you need enough room for two loops of your chosen yarn. Cut the tops of the sticks cleanly and choose species with smooth bark. (you don’t want anything for the yarn to catch on.) Now tape, glue or rubber band your sticks evenly around your tube. The number of sticks you use on each tube is up to you- the space between two sticks is where a “v” in the knitting will form, so the more sticks the more v’s. The yarn you choose will also impact your sticks– for a super thick bulky yarn your sticks should be a little further apart and a a skinnier yarn will allow you to place the quite close together.
Start with the tail of your yarn in the center of your tube and hang onto it with one hand. (It should hang out the bottom.) Next, start wrapping the yarn around the sticks so that there is a loop on the outside of each stick. (See diagram) This is the only time you use this stitch so when helping younger friends I often do this step for them and let them start with the stitch that you use for the rest of the project.
Now take your yarn and position it over the first loop you made. Hold it in place while you pull the bottom loop up and over the both your yarn and the stick. (In the drawing the orange loop was pulled up and over the blue. Then hold your yarn over the next loop on the next stick. Pull the bottom loop up and over again. Keep moving around and around until you reach your desired length. You’ll see a star pattern start to form in the middle and eventually your knitted tube will start to peek out the bottom of your tube. Make sure to keep your loops fairly loose so they aren’t hard to pull over the stick, but not so loose that they slip off.
When your knitting has reached your desired length and you are ready to take it off the tube, wrap your yarn around the whole tube once to measure and cut the yarn off the ball. then place the yarn over the next loop and pull the bottom loop over the the same way as before,but this time pull the tail all the way through (this will remove it from the stick- you should be left with a tail threaded through a loop. You can use your scarf as is or add fringe. So cozy!
Train for Hibernation
Hibernating Bear Game
Bears need to prepare before they hibernate! This game can be as simple or as complex as you want, and even though its very straightforward (and mostly designed to tire little hibernators out…) my kids absolutely adore it. With younger kids the running around is plenty, you could make this into a cool and complex scavenger type hunt for bigger kids (or grownups!)
Materials:
- sidewalk chalk
- rocks, various nature materials pinecones sticks etc
Method:
Decide where each “bear’s” den will be. Use the dens the built previously, or mark them with sidewalk chalk or sticks. (You can even use marking chalk if you need to mark grass) This is their base that they’ll have to bring their supplies to.
Next, set up different areas around your space with different objects the “bears” will need to collect. Berries in one spot, salmon or water in another etc. You can use your research into what bears actually gather or you can be silly and include things like blankets. Put something representative of teh item them are gathering in each spot (rocks acorns etc.) Decide how many of each object they will need- with littles they should probably just get one of each thing, for older kids you may want to assign things different point values so they have to make choices. You could even sneak some math problems in there. We have a rule that you can only gather one thing on each trip to your den so you have to keep going back and forth. (Because you have to carry it in your mouth obviously!)
Once everyone knows what they need to gather and where their den is the game starts and everyone runs back and forth to gather their supplies. First one to finish can win, or you can make it collaborative. If you used points tally everyone’s haul after a certain amount of time. You can reste and play until your bears are ready to hibernate!
Insulation Game
One of the most important ways animals stay warm is by insulating their dens and themselves. We’ve already made dens so why not practice insulating yourself? Have one child put on a large shirt and everyone else can help them stuff it with dried leaves or other insulating materials. Test your insulation inside and outside and see if it’s keeping you warmer!
Hibernation Playlist
What music makes you feel like hibernating? We work on collecting hibernation songs year after year- they include lullabies and songs about animals that hibernate. (There are lots of eletronic-y songs with hibernate in teh title, but we haven’t ventured much into them yet.)
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[…] be able to do with yarn: knitting, crocheting weaving etc. Follow the directions for tube knitting HERE with you plarn to make simple knitted tubes that you can use for a variety of fun purposes. (Like […]