We're Going on a Bear Hunt Magic Books Editable thumbnails. Practise story retelling. Practise nature and people/family vocabulary. Practise fine motor skills. Practise prepositions of movement.

Bear Hunt Magic books to 'wow' your ESL kids

Family, nature, story text....but where's the bear?! Your ESL learners will love working out how the secret segment works and making their own.

♦ Engaging for all ages! Stretch your older learners with tracing the text or even creating their own hidden pictures.

♦ Includes ALL key language from the story: family/people; nature; prepositions; useful phrases.

♦Includes loads of ideas for language practice both during and after the craft.

♦ A fun and interactive way to incorporate story retelling, and bring English outside the classroom.

Ready for some Bear Hunt Magic? Get your templates and lesson ideas here:

Or get them in the Bear Hunt Activities Bundle. Incredible value!

What will my ESL young learners learn?

Apart from developing useful listening and speaking skills, they’ll also be working on their spatial awareness and problem solving. This is also a great craft for getting kids to support each other and develop their social relationships.

There are opportunities to practise ALL of the language from the Bear Hunt story.

Don’t forget the valuable classroom language you’ll be helping them learn. See a summary below:

Nature vocabulary

grass, river, mud, a forest, a snowstorm, a cave

People/characters

man, woman, girl, boy, baby, dog, bear

Family vocabulary

dad/father, mum/mother, sister, brother, baby

Prepositions

over, under, through

Sample story language

We’re going on a bear hunt. / We’re going to catch a big one.

What a beautiful day! / We’re not scared.

Oh no! What’s that?

It’s a (river) /It’s (mud).

We can’t go (over/under it). / We have to go through it.

Quick! Back through the (forest)

Structures

‘going on’ + noun

e.g. We’re going on a bear hunt. / I’m going on a bus. / You’re going on holiday.

‘going to’ + verb

e.g. They’re going to catch a bear. / He’s going to go through the river. / She’s going to see a bear.

exclamations

e.g. What a beautiful day! What a horrible day!

Game and activity language

Is it…? Yes, it is. No, it isn’t. What is it? It’s a.. It’s…

Can you find the…? I can see a… Where’s the bear? Here it is! It’s here.

Where does this go? Like this? Put it under, then over, then under.

Can I have..? Here you are. Thank you. You’re welcome. Colours, pencil, crayons, pens, scissors, paper, card, cut, fold, open, pull.

What do teachers say about the resources?

Wow! I used this resource for one of my labs and it has been explosive. Children were super excited and of course, I was as well! Nothing to complain about! Great work!

I have recently started to use storytelling in my classes and ESL labs. Fiona’s resources are a real treasure. Lots of useful tips and ready-to-use material to bring the story to life and help kids use the language. Excellent, couldn’t ask for more.

The resources were great and saved me so much time, the teaching tips gave me ideas. We had a lot of fun with it : the kids loved the activities, learnt the animals and movements and understood the story. And I feel like there is so much more I could have done. Thank you !

I found this resources few weeks ago and now I’m always have a look first on this web. The range of activities are awesome!

I love the resources and the kids seemed to enjoy too. I had a hard time today with a mixed-age group (from 6 to 14!), but the abundance of differentiated activities Fiona offers made it much easier for me to make the time spent together meaningful.

Most importantly, my students really enjoyed the process of making their own mini book. It also served as an assessment, as I was able to see clearly which students were having issues with reading and matching – but it didn’t feel like an exam or test for the students at all. I only wish I’d found this at the beginning of the academic year.

Frequently asked questions

Can't I just make these resources myself for nothing?

Yes, of course! Maybe you have the time and enjoy creating things, but it has to be said that being a young learner teacher can involve a HUGE amount of extra work making materials. Give yourself a break!

How do I know these materials will work?

All my materials have been tried and tested in the classroom. As well as having almost 20 years of teaching experience, I am also a qualified trainer for the Trinity TYLEC (Teaching Young Learners Extension Certificate), so you can rely on the quality.

I'm teaching mixed aged groups. Will these materials work?

Yes! They work great for mixed aged groups and different abilities because they come with different templates AND different suggestions with how to use the resource. No time wasted on adapting different worksheets!

I need a ready to go lesson plan. Can I use this?

The provided activity suggestions for during and after the craft give you all the steps you need to create a fun and engaging lesson for your young learners.
Just add in the storytelling with and a game or two and you’re all set. Find supplementary material on the Bear Hunt Story Resource Page.

Wouldn't it be easier to just do a worksheet?

You can certainly find some free worksheets out there, but I can guarantee your young learners will be much more excited to create this. Engaged and motivated children make for a happy lesson (and teacher!)

Once you’ve had a chance to use your materials, don’t forget to come back to leave a review. As a thank you, you’ll receive a 20% discount on any other resource : )

Reviews

We're going on a bear hunt

By Marianna on 14/05/2025 at 06:47

I used “We’re going on a bear hunt” after reading Fiona’s email on how she’d used it with little kids. I was amazed by how much my five pupils loved it! I used it over three lessons and they enjoyed singing the first sentences, mimicking going over, under and through grass, mud etc. They loved the Wordwall games and asked to play them over and over again. They also loved creating the magic book with the hidden bear; I got them to colour in the pictures, which was fun and gave us the opportunity to review the language a little more. I’ll definitely use the book and Fiona’s materials much more and I’ll buy the fishing game cards to incorporate in my lessons! Thank you Fiona.

228 of 481 people found this review helpful.

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The kids love these little books

By laurenhamiltonsaez on 22/01/2023 at 11:42

I’ve always loved reading this story with children. I find it’s especially great in the language classroom for connecting preposition practice with kids’ fabulous imaginations. This little book is such a neat little treasure for kids to create and take home. The paper-folding wizardry is fabulous. Simple for us and magical for them!

323 of 683 people found this review helpful.