HAND-PRINT POLAR BEARS: Fun Art Project for Kids

On my recent author visit to Ecole Bilingue in Berkeley, California, I saw a display of art projects made by the students, including these polar bears created from hand-prints. This would be a perfect project to go with reading my book A POLAR BEAR'S WORLD. 

How to make a hand-print polar bear:

1. Dip the flat of your hand into white paint that has been poured on a plate. (Alternatively, you can use brown paint to make a brown or grizzly bear.)

2. Press your hand onto a sheet of colored paper to make a print. Let the paint dry. (Be sure to wash you hand!)

3. Cut out the shape of your hand. The four fingers are the polar bear's legs. The thumb is the head and face.

4. With a black marking pen draw claws on the feet and draw eyes, ears, and nose on the face.

This project is suitable for preschool and primary school age children.

NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK: VISIT TO THE KONA-KAILUA PUBLIC LIBRARY, HAWAII

Kailua-Kona Public Library, Hawaii

On my recent visit to the Big Island of Hawaii I made my usual visit to the Kona-Kailua Public Library to meet the children’s librarian and donate my recent books. (The state library system has 87 of my books, with 14 in the Kona-Kailua branch.) My husband Art and I have been making trips to Hawaii for a long time—he has a scientific conference held every three years in Kona and I go along for the ride. A visit to the library is always on my agenda. It has been five years since our last visit because the conference was postponed during the Pandemic. So, it was especially nice to return.

A battle car to battle bad guys. By Davy.

I’m always interested to see what kinds of activities the librarians are doing with children and learned that they have a variety of Saturday programs for kids. The librarian pointed out an exhibit of a recent craft/story telling project she had done with young children using Legos. 

A restaurant. By Jamal.

The children were free to create whatever they wanted or if they preferred, they could follow a prompt. When they finished they wrote a short story about their creation or told it to an adult who wrote it for them. I’m sure they were very proud to see their projects displayed near the front of the library for everyone to see and enjoy. The project is a great way to combine playing with a favorite toy—Legos—and practicing story-telling skills. I was impressed by the ingenuity of the projects.

Ant city in Antarctica in the water. By Xander.