Spring and summertime weather means all those creepy, crawly bugs will start to make an appearance! If you work with littles, you already know that some children LOVE bugs, while others… not so much! Because of this, I love to spend some time learning about insects and focusing on bees, in particular. Doing so allows for instant engagement from the bug lovers and an opportunity to calm the fears of others. With the right lessons, even those students who are a little timid towards insects will love learning all about these fascinating creatures! Today, let’s dive into some of my favorite fun and easy bee activities!
Teaching All About Bees with Books
Bees are just SO interesting! There is so much to learn about them, and they serve as such a wonderful focus topic for thematic teaching. Whenever we start a new thematic unit, I love to start with books. If you know me, you know that there’s nothing that makes me happier than a fresh stack of books from the library!
Bee Book Suggestions
There are so many incredible books on bees, so I compiled a whole list. My Bee Book List provides many suggestions for a variety of ages. Since every classroom has students learning at different rates, there are stories of various lengths and types as well. Here are a few of the notable favorites from the list:
The Secret Life of Bees by Moira Butterfield is such a great book to use in your bee activities and lessons! Students will learn tons of amazing facts about bees and explore topics such as the bee life cycle, bee anatomy, how bees collect nectar and make honey, and what happens inside the hive!
National Geographic Readers: Bees by Laura Marsh provides a fun, non-fiction option to read aloud in class. Students will love the real photographs of bees at work in the hive! This level 2 reader is also great for students to read independently as well.
Buzz by Eileen Spinelli is a fun, fictional story to go along with a bee theme in the classroom. In this book, Buzz, a bumblebee explores what happens when limiting beliefs keep you stuck. This is an inspiring, whimsical read that will leave students smiling!
No matter what you’re looking for, there’s a little something for everyone on this list. I love using these books during read-aloud time and then making them available for kiddos to flip through in the class library. You can also have students listen to audiobooks, read independently, or read with a partner.
Bee Videos
While some students learn best by listening, others prefer watching so I love to include a video or two as well. Luckily, there are SO many informative videos all about Bumblebees and Honeybees on YouTube. Another fun topic for your bee activities is a closer look at A Beekeeper’s Life. Students will be so intrigued to see how bees survive, the daily functions they participate in, and the people who help care for them!
When it comes to using videos, I think these are great to use during whole-group learning or as a starting point for another lesson. Pop a video up on the screen and then open the floor for discussion afterward. This would also be a great time to work on making an anchor chart together.
You can take note of what was most interesting to students, what they learned about bees, and maybe even list out new vocabulary words. Taking the time to do this will be a great introduction to all the fun bee activities to follow!
Thematic Bee Activities
I’m a huge fan of thematic teaching. It’y my favorite way to teach and offers so many benefits to young learners. I love working with a new theme every couple of weeks to keep things fresh. Using one central theme, like bees, and intentionally choosing cross-curricular activities that fit the theme is such a great way to keep engagement high in the classroom.
Plus, anytime you can use a non-fiction topic, like bees, you can bet that children will be excited to participate! Bringing meaningful, real-life topics into lessons is an incredible way to keep students interested since they can draw connections to their own lives. When we’re learning about bees, I love to take some time to (safely) observe them from a distance if we can find any in the yard. This will really help take your lesson to the next level!
In each of my thematic units, you can typically find activities for several different subjects. In my All About Bees Unit, we focus primarily on science, reading, writing, vocabulary, and fine motor skills.
Bee Reading, Writing & Vocabulary Activities
When it comes to ELA activities, there’s no shortage of information to focus on. Whether you’d like to teach students about the life cycle of bees, fun facts about bees, or parts of a bee, this unit touches on it all!
Our bee activities include a wide variety of fun language arts activities like:
- Bee Vocabulary Posters, Tracing Activities & Flipbooks
- Bee Life Cycles Mini Readers
- All About Bees Fun Facts Mini Readers
- Bee Writing Prompts & Graphic Organizers
- Parts of a Bee Labeling Activities
- Compare and Contrast Activities
- and more!
I like to use these activities during centers, small groups, and even whole-group learning to mix things up. Since there are so many different topics to explore, it’s easy to stretch these lessons over several days or even a couple of weeks.
With the included readers, vocabulary, and writing activities, you can easily target important skills in a fun way with these lessons. With this unit, students will love telling their family members how amazing bees really are!
No-Prep Bee Activities
One of my favorite things about this unit is how simple it is to prep. Many of the activities use a print-and-go format, which means you’ll be able to pull together engaging bee lesson plans in a snap. In addition to the writing activities included in this unit, you’ll find a fun, no-prep color-by-code set that fits in with the bee theme perfectly.
The color-by-code activities included in this unit focus on pre-primer and primer sight words. There are 19 pre-made pages with cute bees and insects that students will love.
There are also editable options included too! Using the editable pages, you can add your own sight words, spelling words, vocabulary words, or any other skills practice you’re looking to focus on.
In addition, there are a variety of no prep activities that will help your kids practice important reading and science skills. You can quickly and easily give students opportunities to work on skills like fact and opinion, compare and contrast, and sequencing.
Additionally, they can review the science they are learning too! Have students review what they have learned by labeling the parts of a bee, completing the bee life cycle, and more!
There’s also a variety of ready-to-use graphic organizers that are perfect for your lessons. Use them as part of your discussions throughout the unit. They can even be used as an anchor chart to document your learning during a lesson or the entire unit.
Fun and Easy Bee Crafts
If you’re anything like me, you probably love crafts just as much as your students do! I just can’t help it… Crafts are not only fun for students, but they look great on a bulletin board, encourage creativity, and help focus on fine motor skills. I mean, come on, what’s not to love?!
The bee craft included in this unit allows each kiddo to make their very own bumble bee craftivity with an attached writing prompt. The writing pages are circular and fit under the bee body cover. After they create their bee, they’ll get to write about bees and then bind the whole project together. It’s a great way to engage kids with both writing and fine motor practice.
I love finishing up our unit with this craft as a way to reflect on everything we’ve learned about bees. Not to mention, these make a wonderful keepsake if you’re collecting work samples for memory books!
Get Started with Bee Activities in Your Classroom
One of the best things about teaching is seeing your students engaged in learning. While standards dictate what skills students focus on, teachers can develop creative lessons to help students master standards. These bee activities are an incredible way to bring in a variety of subjects and make learning FUN!
If you’re looking for a simple way to help teach your students all about bees, be sure to check out the full unit! My All About Bees Thematic Unit comes with everything you need to teach fun and engaging lessons about these incredible creatures.
And if you’re looking for a closer look at these activities, check out the All About Bees Unit Video. This video gives you a look at how many skills students will work on.
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