Mike Boldt always has a great humorous touch to all of his books, and “Find Fergus” is no exception. In this book, Fergus the bear tries to hide from the viewer, only he’s really bad at it. Based on the suggestions of the narrator, he tries to find a better hiding spot on the next page, with hilarious results. It’s great to problem solve with my older kiddos and talk to them about what Fergus should do next. I kinda steer them into the answer I was looking for, then turn the page and find out that Fergus is still not hiding well. So we repeat the process as a group, and by the end, Fergus is GREAT at hiding! It’s use of critical thinking, interactivity, and humor makes this a go-to storytime book for me. (Go here for my list of other great interactive picture books.)
So like I said, if you do this as a group, you can work on some critical thinking and kinda work out together what Fergus should be doing differently. So this activity is all about that. On it, you’ll find Fergus…and that’s it. The key is to hide him, just like in the story. Put him next to some trees, or in a house, or next to some other bears! Or you can just color it…that works too.
My younger kiddos just like to color the bear, but my older kiddos have gotten really into it. I had one kiddo once color Fergus in camo to help him hide. So smart! My example isn’t as good–I just put some trees up and a few signs to distract people, but you get the idea of what to do! Think this would be a great project with the right age group. You can download a copy of the coloring sheet here.
I also have a smaller version for download here. I’ve been trying to lower my paper usage when I do crafts/activities, so this way you get two activities out of one piece of paper when you print it out.
Thanks to writer and artist Mike Boldt for allowing this resource to be distributed for FREE to teachers and librarians. Permission was given by artist Mike Boldt via email on 11/23/2022, on the condition that the resource is given out for free.
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