Funshine Bears Happy Activities
Learning Emotions With The Care Bears
Feel happy with Funshine Bear and some of his family of Care Bears as they guide you through this session with children on happy emotions. Watch as the children join in with Funshine Bear's caring mission and learn through stimulating learning activities to feel happy when they make someone else happy. Let Cheer Bear spur you on with fun games. With these learning activites you will have such a laugh that they won't even realise just how much they are learning. Funshine Bear is sure to get them all joining in and will gently bring smiles to their faces and inspire them in lots of creativity as you explore the happy emotions together. Read on to find out whether we let Grumpy Bear join in too!
Create Happy Feelings With Ball Games
As the children arrive you could play a happy game of passing the ball to each other. Get them to stand in a circle and the leader passes the ball to a child in a certain way, e.g. two-handed pass, shoulder pass, bounce pass, between legs etc. The child has to use the same pass back. If they drop the ball, they get a forfeit or have to tell a joke (something to make them smile).
Warning! A smiley face can be infectious!
Is this making you feel happy?
Circle Time
Talking About Happy Things
Get the children all seated comfortably and introduce them to Funshine Bear. Explain that he belongs to the family of Care Bears and loves to make people happy. That is why he has a smiling sun on his tummy.
At the beginning of your session it can be helpful to give the children the opportunity to share how they are feeling so that they get it off their chest! As each child shares something, they could hold the bear as a focus to help them speak one at a time (only whilst holding the bear).
Ask the children what makes them happy. How do they feel when they help others? Did the ball games make them feel happy?
Introduce them to Grumpy Bear and what it means to be grumpy. What makes them grumpy?
Their suggestions will be used in a later activity.
Sing some happy songs
"If you're happy and you know it".
Make up a tune to this song: "Are you feeling (happy today" x3)
Are you feeling happy today, YES or NO?
Yes I'm feeling happy today......
Are you feeling sad today/grumpy today........
ARTS & CRAFTS- Drawing Smiley Faces On A Happy Barometer
Give each child
- paper plate
- orange and yellow pens/crayons.
- a brad
- card to make a clock hand
Ask the children how they feel when they see the sun.
Get them to draw a sun on the plate and give it a smiley face if that is how it makes them feel. They could use their suggestions from Circle Time earlier to write on the back "What makes them feel happy."
To make the Happy Barometer:
Make a clock hand from the card and attach a brad at the bottom, placing it in a hole in the centre of the plate. At 12 o'clock they should write "I am very happy" and at half past the hour, "I am very sad".
Ask them if they feel happy now. The hand can then be moved to a position between the top and bottom, depending on how happy or sad they are.
A Game- Happy Things In The Sun
Introduce them to Cheer Bear and tell them that he is going to cheer them on in the next game.
Ask them what happy things they like to do in the sun. Place the happy suns at one end of the room to give the feel of Summer holidays!
Divide them into two teams and give each a box of items they might need to go on holiday.
Each child takes one item out at a time and runs with it to the other end of the room, where the sun pictures are, in relay.
The first team to send all of their items on holiday has won.
