A Hands-On Learning Activity

We can’t have #GardenWeek without talking about the, dare I say, most important insects in the garden – BEES!

Why do we need bees? It is a great question!

Without bees we couldn’t grow lots of the fruits and vegetables that we eat! When a bee visits a flower or plant to sip the sweet nectar, they spread pollen that helps plants grow fruit and vegetables.

My kiddos have so many questions about bees and I am so thankful that we found this book to answer them all (and MORE!) in an age-appropriate, relatable way. I was learning right alongside my kiddos while reading it!

For instance, do you know how many bees make one jar of honey? Around TWENTY THOUSAND!! 😳 I will never look at that honey bear the same way again!

Our fun hands-on learning activity helps illustrate how bees travel to flowers, collect nectar, and carry it back to the hive to turn it into thick, sweet honey.

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The first step is to make the hexagonal hive. First, cut strips of cardstock or other thick paper into 1-inch strips. Then begin folding the strip into a hexagon. I found it easiest to fold down the first side and then continue folding the paper strip on itself until the entire strip was folded up. Unfold the paper and then tape into a 6-sided hexagon.

Repeat with the remaining strips to make more hexagons. Then, tape them together into a larger honeycomb pattern.

Now your little will become the bees and use tongs (or their fingers) to move the pollen from the flower to the honeycomb.

This activity is very simple, but it can be used to emphasize various concepts:

• Shapes – hexagon is a super fun word and shape!
• Colors – what colors are the flowers? the pom-poms?
• Numbers & Counting – how many pom-poms are inside each hexagon? on each flower?
• Fine Motor Skills – can you squeeze the tongs to pick up just one pom?

I hope your little ones enjoy learning all about bees with this activity! And now that you know why we need bees, can you spot them hard at work outside in your environment?

Happy Bee Spotting!