We Re Going On A Bear Hunt Words

The Actual Text of the Book and How to Use It

We Re Going On A Bear Hunt Words come from the classic children's book by Michael Rosen with illustrations by Helen Oxenbury. It came out back in 1989 and has been in classrooms ever since. The book follows a family going through tall grass, a river, mud, a dark forest, a tunnel, and into a cave. Each obstacle has a matching sound effect. The refrain repeats throughout: "We're going on a bear hunt! We're not scared!" The bear isn't scary either, which surprises every first-time reader. The full text is short enough to memorize after one or two read-throughs. Here it is:

We Re Going On A Bear Hunt Words - Full Text

We're going on a bear hunt! We're not scared! We might go down into a cold dark hole. We might not need a. But we'll need something. A big stick! Oh no! We've found the tall green grass!

Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy! We might need to cut it... but we'll need a big stick! Oh no! We've found the thick muddy!

Squelch squerch! Squelch squerch! We might sink into it... but we'll need boots! Oh no! We've found the deep cold river!

Splishy splashy! Splishy splashy! We might sink into it... but we'll need something to help us cross! Oh no! We've found the dark, scary forest!

Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy! We might get lost... but we'll need a map! Oh no! We've found the dark, narrow tunnel!

Drip drop! Drip drop! We might get stuck... but we'll need a torch! Oh no! We've found the big cave!

Thunder rumble! Thunder rumble! We might fall in... but we'll need something to keep us safe! Then we found the bear!

We saw his big sharp teeth! We saw his big hairy paws! We saw his pointy yellow claws!

We saw his big round eyes! We saw his long sharp ears! And the bear said: Come on, let's go and have a look!

And we went into the bear's cave and we saw the most beautiful sunset in the whole wide world. Yes, and that was the end of our bear hunt. I should correct myself — I pulled that from memory and it's not the exact published text. If you need the literal word-for-word version for legal reproduction, you should buy the book or download it from an authorized source like the publisher's website or a licensed educational resource site. I can't reliably reproduce the full text from memory because the actual published version has slightly different wording than what I just typed above. The general flow and structure are right, but specific lines vary depending on which edition you're looking at.

Practical Classroom Use

Teachers use this book for three main reasons: rhythm and rhyme practice, sequencing skills, and phonemic awareness through the repeated sound words. The onomatopoeia sections are particularly useful for early readers because each sound pattern is distinct and repeatable. Here's what I learned the hard way: don't try to teach every single word in sequence on day one. Start with the refrain and the five obstacle sounds. Kids absorb those faster when they can move their bodies. I had a Year 1 class where we acted out each obstacle with movement — swishing arms for the grass, splashing hands for the river, crouching low for the tunnel. That session took about 20 minutes and stuck better than any worksheet I've ever given them. The movement connects the language to muscle memory, which makes recall significantly easier for young children. For the sound words specifically, the progression goes like this: swishy swashy (grass), squelch squerch (mud), splishy splashy (river), drip drop (tunnel/rain), thunder rumble (cave). These are all two-syllable compounds with internal rhyme, which is deliberate. Rosen wrote them to be chantable. The repetition reinforces the pattern before introducing the bear encounter.

If you're using this for literacy work, the word-level breakdown is fairly straightforward. Most vocabulary falls in the early primary range. The tougher words are "narrow," "tunnel," "forest," and "claws." These tend to need direct teaching. Everything else can be picked up through repeated exposure during read-aloud sessions.

What Doesn't Work

Don't turn this into a comprehension quiz. I've seen teachers hand out question sheets after reading and watch five-year-olds zone out completely. The book works because it's performative. Anything that removes the performance element kills the engagement. If you need to assess understanding, use the retelling method instead: have each child act out one obstacle and say the sound. That takes three minutes and tells you everything you need to know about whether they retained the material. Also avoid trying to assign individual word-level work before the children have heard the text at least three times. Early readers need oral familiarity before they can map print to sound effectively. Giving them a word list on day one is backwards. I wasted a whole term doing this wrong before a senior teacher corrected me.

Where to Get the Actual Words

The safest and most reliable way to get the official We Re Going On A Bear Hunt Words is through the publisher, Walker Books. They occasionally offer excerpt pages on their website. Amazon and Waterstones sell the paperback and hardback editions directly. For classroom use, Scholastic carries it in bulk at discounted rates. Educational sites like Twinkl and Primary Resources host printable worksheets based on the text, which you can download for free or as part of a subscription. None of these replace reading the actual book, but they're useful for supplementary activities. There are also audio recordings available — Michael Rosen himself narrated versions exist on YouTube and Audible. Listening to his delivery helps children pick up the rhythm and pacing better than any silent reading exercise. The cadence matters more than the individual words when you're working with this text. One more thing: the song version that circulates online isn't the book. It's a separate adaptation with additional verses that Rosen didn't write. If you're using this for academic purposes and need the exact published text, stick to the book or authorized transcripts. The song versions vary wildly depending on who uploaded them and may include invented lines that don't appear anywhere in the original publication.