Bagel Bears

We love bringing books to life in the kitchen! This is a great extension activity to bring some talking and playing into your next reading of “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?” or “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” or another bear themed book. You can practice with the /b/ sound while making your bagels, tell your own story about your silly bagel bear, or simply talk about how delicious these snacks are. Stay tuned for more book-based recipes to bring to your next speech session or practice time at home.

Target Sounds: /p/ and /b/

• Note: You can use this as an opportunity to teach /p/ vs /b/, and practice with short words for each sound. It is also a good time to teach the difference between these two sounds. We make both sounds with our lips, but turn our voices “on” for /b/ and off for /p/.

• Sample Words: “bear”, “pop”, “polar”, “bee”, “bagel”, “butter”, “peanut”

Book Pairing:

• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

• Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

• Note: We are focused on the /b/ “bear” and not “brown” because it is easier to produce for this target sound. “br” is a consonant cluster, and is more challenging than /b/ next to a vowel sound.

Ingredients

• 1 package of bagels, sliced

  • You can also use mini-sized bagels for a smaller snack. Break the crackers in half for smaller ears.

• Polar Bear Spread: Cream Cheese

  • You could also try different flavors of cream cheese, or something like peanut butter or Nutella for this recipe.

• Ears: Round Crackers (e.g., Ritz) or Cookies (e.g., Oreos, Nilla Wafers, Fudge Stripes)

  • For a healthier, more colorful bear, try strawberries for ears! (slice in half, and place the base on your bagel, leaving the tops of the “ears” sticking up)

  • Pretzels work too, if that’s what you have!

• Eyes and Nose: Dried Fruit (e.g., raisins or craisins)

  • You can also sub things like chocolate chips, nuts, fresh fruits, or candies

• Bonus: Shaved coconut makes great “fur” for your bears

Supplies

• Plate

• Knife

• Napkins

Steps

1. Choose your spread and apply a generous layer across 1/2 of your bagel, repeat for however many bears you will be making. You can do this with a regular or a toasted bagel.

2. Press two crackers/cookies in, near the “top” of your bear’s head for his ears

3. Place a cracker or cookie in the middle of your bear’s head for his snout

4. Add dried fruit for eyes, and an extra piece with a bit of cream cheese on it for his little button nose

5. Enjoy!