Let’s buzz into learning this week by taking a look at an insect that is essential for life on Earth: bees. I think it’s important to teach our children that bees are needed not only to pollinate all of the beautiful flowers but more importantly, fruits and vegetables. Several types of bees are on the endangered species list, which means our food sources will deplete as they do. Take some time this week to talk about how important these bugs are while having some fun while learning with these bee activities for preschoolers!
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Bees: Books We Love
Buzz, Bee! by Jennifer Syzmanski is a great introduction to bees for little learners! This book explains what bees eat and drink, where they live, and how they find nectar to turn into honey.
Are You a Bee? by Judy Allen asks the reader, “Are you a bee?” and then proceeds to describe the busy life of bees and all of the challenges that bees face and overcome.
In the Trees, Honey Bees by Lori Mortensen uses simple rhymes to tell about all of the busy things that worker bees do, from collecting nectar and pollen to making wax for honeycombs and cracks, to feeding the larva and the queen. It also includes extra facts on each page to dive deeper into the life of bees.
The Big Honey Hunt by Stan & Jan Berenstain shows how Papa Bear and Baby Bear follow a bee to find honey instead of just going to the honey store to buy it. Unfortunately, the task is harder than it seems as they encounter many other creatures in trees along the way.
The Honeybee by Kirsten Hall has verses that flow easily in this book as we journey along with a honeybee, one of nature’s hardest workers. This is a great introduction to bees with beautiful illustrations and facts.
Bees: Literacy Centers & Activities
Bee Boom
Draw a hexagon letter card and correctly identify the letter and/or sound to keep it, but watch out! If you grab a “Boom!” card, lose all of the honeycombs you’ve earned. We, of course, played with great sound effects every time we drew a “Boom!” card. Sound effects just make everything more fun. I made a digital version of this game – available in my TPT store.
Alpha-Bees “Pollen” Writing Tray
Our writing tray got filled with yellow “pollen” this week to practice letter formation with these adorable Alpha-Bees! We just used some yellow sand I found at the craft store.
The Beehive Buzz Sound Match
Fly some bees over to the pictures that begin with the same sound as the middle letter! I love these types of sound matching activities because the repetition of finding the same sound over and over reinforces the concept so much! Grab your Beehive Buzz Sound Match here!
Honeycomb Syllables
Count the syllables in each of these bee-themed pictures and stack the hexagon pattern blocks on top of the Honeycomb Syllables! It even includes the life cycle of the honeybee across the middle to practice some science vocabulary!
The Big Letter Hunt
Papa Bear and Baby Bear chased after a bee to find a honey tree in this book. Hide these trees around the room and have your tots find the letters. Trace over the little letters on the recording sheet to show that you’ve found it. Watch out! There are forest creatures living in some of these trees, and they will get ya!
Bees: Math Centers and Activities
Swat the Bee
I know! I know! Killing bees is no bueno! This Swat the Bee activity is just so fun for tots because they get to use a flyswatter. I called out a number, and my little one swatted the bee with that number on it or the ten frame. She even pretended to scoop the dead (gasp) bee up and put it to the side. Love this activity because it builds number fluency.
Parts of a Bee: Count & Clip
Learn about the parts of a bee with this Count & Clip activity. We counted wings, antenna, body sections, stingers, eyes, and legs before using clothespins to mark the correct number. I am not sure why tots love clothespins so much, but it sure does add a fun element to this math and science activity.
Build a Beehive
To add in some fine motor construction this week, we built beehives using these cards. First, we used yellow hexagon pattern blocks to build the honeycombs in the hive. Then, we added in the bees and the specks of pollen (pom-poms) to complete the hive! I just used bee stickers on a white foam sheet, but these bee erasers would have been much easier!
Flower Stem Count & Measure
The flowers are in bloom, and the bees are buzzing! We counted the bees on each flower. Then, we linked cubes together to match the number of bees, marked the green strip of paper, and cut the stem to the right length. This activity included counting, counting, measuring, and cutting! Lots of good stuff here!
Bee Number Line
For a little missing number practice, I had my little one close her eyes while I covered a couple of numbers on this Bee Number Line with yellow hexagon pattern blocks. Then, she guessed which number was hidden before lifting it to check. Low prep and free!
Bees: Sensory Bins & Dramatic Play
Honeycomb Hive Sensory Bin
This sweet and edible sensory bin was made from Honeycomb cereal. I used leftover cardboard ends to make a hive that we could fly our Easter egg bees in and out of, added some flowers, and voila! Hours of fun and pretend play doing all of the things that we’ve learned about bees so far.
Pollination Station
We made these adorable Easter egg bees by adding electrical tape for stripes and using a permanent marker to draw a face. Then, we buzzed those Easter egg bees over to the flowers to practice color identification or patterns in the Pollination Station. I think patterns require a certain rhythm to master, and this activity got our bodies moving to the rhythm.
Nectar Relay
This relay race made us as busy, busy, busy! We flew down to the flower, collected nectar with a dropper, and buzzed back to drop the nectar off in our egg carton honeycomb. So much fun acting like a busy bee!
Beekeeper Dramatic Play
As one of our dramatic play activities this week, we pretended to be beekeepers! Using the hive inspection form, we made sure there was only 1 queen bee, and checked for eggs, larva, pupa, worker bees, drone bees, moths, beetles, and mice. Easy to prep – just print and go!
Honey Store Dramatic Play
After reading The Big Honey Hunt where Papa Bear learns that the best honey comes from the honey store, we set up our own honey store with small, medium, and large jars of gooey honey, a honey banner, and open/closed signs. We played as if we were either the customer or the cashier, practicing our counting skills as we paid with Bee Bucks. This is one of my tot’s favorite activities from this week.
I hope these bee preschool activities got you buzzing, and you found something fun and exciting to implement at home or in the classroom. Grab your entire discounted bundle here!
