INSPIRATIONS - Bees

A collection of activity ideas and fun facts to celebrate the bee!

Introduction

We've put together some inspirations to support a child's understanding of the importance of bees and help with identifying them.

We asked our outdoor community for their favourite bee facts & activities, and have included some here - thanks everyone!

Feature photo credit: @ForestFroggies

What you'll need

This activity has been provided by

Useful items from our shop

Item available from our shop

Environmental Considerations

Consider the environmental impact of preparing, carrying out & completing this activity. Could this impact be reduced? Specific considerations for this activity could include:

- bees are important pollinators - protect them & their environments

Health & Safety Considerations

Follow your usual operating procedures and carry out appropriate risk benefit assessments.
Some considerations particular to this activity include:

- don't kill a bee because you're scared - calmly move out of the way (but do be aware of anyone in your group with allergies)

Fun bee facts 🐝

Bees don't have ears or knees
Bees are the world’s top pollinators!
They play a huge role in the eco system + nature
The Worker Bee communicates through dancing!
Bees have 5 eyes

Our favourite things about bees

🐝 Used to be scared to death but since becoming a Forest School leader have had to learn to relax and appreciate & enjoy watching them 🌼

My favourite thing about bees is that all worker bees are female! #girlpower 😍

My favourite thing about bees is that they help our flowers and food to bloom and grow! 🐝🌱 Without them we just can't survive! ❤️

The waggle dance! The kids love this too! 🐝🐝🐝

I love that bees help flowers grow 🐝🌸🌻

Love watching the bees in our flowers 💐

The waggle dance 🐝🐝 to tell other bees where to find nectar and pollen.. 😍 Amazing bees 💛🖤💛

Honestly I find their buzzing relaxing. Love watching the bees in my garden buzzing around from flower to flower

My favourite thing is that without bees, we wouldn’t bee here. So I’m making sure that I’m planting pollinator-friendly this year

I absolutely love their pattern of yellow and black. It’s stands out so magnificently….🐝

My favourite thing about bees is their little fuzzy bums when they fall asleep in flowers 😍

How they buzz from flower to flower :)

What are your favourite things about bees?

Watch our Muddy Faces stop-frame animation 'Adventures of Little B'

Why not have a go and make your very own stop-frame bee animation? 🐝

Bee crafts 🐝

Hapa zome buttercup bees

Thanks to @ForestSchoolFun for this super cute activity inspiration!

Painted pebble bees

Simply paint stripes of colour on pebbles (for younger children) or look at a bee ID chart and copy the different stripes of colour.

Create your own bumblebee ID resource

Pinecone bees

Simple tactile and fine motor activity wrapping strands of wool around cones to resemble the colours on different bees.

Activities to help bees 🐝

Make a simple bee hotel

A simple activity to create a nesting site for solitary bees.

Bee Brick

We love this bee brick idea that Milford Pre-School shared on Twitter - use your own mud or wattle and daub to make little habitat spaces for your bug hotel - a lovely tactile activity with loads of opportunities for conversation.

Thank you to Milford Pre School Plus for sharing this bee brick activity idea.

Bee dates for your diary

World Bee Day

20 May - read our World Bee Day news for more info & ideas.

World Bee Day 20 May

Celebrate bees in 2024!

No Mow May

Protect bees and other pollinators by leaving grass and undergrowth long so they can feast on wild flowers!

No Mow May

Useful organisations

More bee-related organisations, projects & initiatives on our Outdoor Hub here:

Bees, insects & arachnids

Specialist organisations, projects and resources with a focus on bees, insects and arachnids.

From the Muddy Faces shop

Honey Bee Life Cycle - UK Wood

From: £8.32 exVAT

The life cycle of a honey bee shows 5 stages of life on UK Grown wood, which provides a sustainable alternative to plastic education resources.

Honey bee life cycle set also available with a life cycle board.

Buy now

Cylch bywyd - Gwenynen fel

From: £8.32 exVAT

Mae cylchoedd bywyd ar bren a dyfir yn y DU yn darparu dewis cynaliadwy amgen i adnoddau addysg plastig. Cylch bywyd gwenyn mêl hefyd ar gael gyda bwrdd cylch bywyd. Cymerwch olwg ar ein hadnoddau Cymraeg eraill yma. A Welsh version of our Honey ...

Buy now

Discover Bees Set

£21.99 exVAT

Discover Bees with this set.

Buy now

Hand Painted Bees - Set of 5

£9.99 exVAT

Set of 5 bees hand painted on wooden discs.Please note that this is a natural product. It will have knots and imperfections and there may be small cracks in the wood. This is all perfectly normal and does not detract from ...

Buy now

Field Guide - Bees

£4.00 exVAT

This bees field guide would be perfect for early childhood settings and schools. Fold-out charts, designed to help users identify of a wide range of plants and animals and support outdoor learning.

Buy now

Animals

Many more bee products to browse here.

Disclaimer: Muddy Faces cannot take any responsibility for accidents or damage that occurs as a result of following this activity.You are responsible for making sure the activity is conducted safely.