BFIAR : jesse bear, what will you wear?

read! build! write! mats

this week we read jesse bear, what will you wear? by nancy white carlstrom for our before five in a row lessons.

DAY ONE : we focused on the love & affection we noticed in the book, and read i john 4:7-12 & i corinthians 13:4-7 together.  

^{i john 4:7} dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ this is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² no one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

^{i corinthians 4} love is patient, love is kind. it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

we talked about i corinthians 13, about how LOVE is not self-seeking... how as a family we should sacrifice for each other which means we try to put each other's needs above our own.

then i asked them some questions about jesse bear & the bible verses:

in the story, what are ways, besides hugs & kisses, that the bears showed love to each other?

• by serving--jesse bear's mom makes his food (heron)
• by obeying--jesse bear was obedient (shepherd)
• by playing games/spending time together as a family (mama)

how can we show God that we love him?

• by obeying, listening, and believing in him (heron)

i asked shepherd to think of some ways to show others that we love them.  he said:

• i can show my softies that i love them by taking care of them & not biting them. 
• i can show my cars that i love them by washing them and not leaving them in the water. 
• i can show mama and dada that i love them by putting my toys away. 

after reading the passage from i john i asked heron about ways that God shows us love.  she replied:

• even when we sin, God still loves us, even though it makes him sad.
• by sending Jesus to die on the cross for us.
• when we sin he's not mad at us; he throws his arms around us and hugs us.

we ended our story/discussion time in prayer, then moved into coloring, writing, and learning rhyming words.  

DAY TWO : we focused on the food aspects of the book, and though there are no pancakes in the book we couldn't resist an opportunity to make bear-shaped pancakes!  

we also started growing our own sprouts to eat ("celery crunch and sprouts in a bunch..."), and did some cutting & pasting activities with food worksheets.

then it was game time, inspired by "peek-a-boo" that jesse bear's dad plays with him at bedtime.  we played peek-a-boo with pear bear, then hid little bears around the house for each other to find.

other games ensued, & ring around the rosie got pretty fun & wild.  it has been a gloomy winter, so we played tag inside, too, to get some of our jollies out!

when we settled down again, we played with the read! build! write! mats.  heron is doing great at this, though she is mostly learning to write in all-caps thanks to bananagrams! ;)  shepherd mostly enjoyed building towers for his cars out of the letters.  we asked him to help heron pick out the letters she needed to spell the words, but he is still having trouble with his letters.

so we did a little ipad alphabet game with him.  monster ABCs!

DAY THREE : we focused on shapes.  we noticed the shapes on the floor of jesse bear's kitchen, then did a shape matching activity (below) and made castles out of rectangles, squares, circles, & triangles, and painted them with watercolor.

during our reading/discussion heron noticed that jesse bear "wore" things that weren't clothes.  the book says he wore a rose, the sun, the sand on his hand, his chair, his lunch, bath bubbles, hugs & kisses, the moon & dreams.  this was a great opportunity to share colossians 3:12 with her...

¹² therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ and over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

activity and resource summary for jesse bear, what will you wear?:

bible verses : i john 4:7-12; i corinthians 13:4-7; colossians 3:12
supplementary viewing : how to grow sprouts, endless alphabet app for ipad
activities & practical applications : grew sprouts
worksheets : printables (writing, rhyming) + read! build! write! cards from homeschool creations, food cutting & pasting activity & hide-a-bear game idea from homeschool share
inspiration : watercolor castle
other resources : bananagrams, wooden pattern blocks, pattern cards