Bee Crafts and Activities
For Kids
Bee Book - This book can be used for many purposes. Children can write facts about bees, write words that start with the letter "B", write a short story about a bee, etc.
 What you will need: Printer paper, black and yellow paper, crayons, tape or glue, and a stapler.
What to do:
1. Draw six circles, one each 5 1/2" on black paper, 5 1/4" on yellow paper, 4 1/2" on black paper, 4 1/4" on yellow paper, 3 1/2" on black paper, and one 3 3/8" for the head on yellow paper. Cut out six legs and two antennae from black construction paper. Draw wings on white paper and cut them out. Draw a face on the smallest circle.
A pattern for this craft is available to members of Danielle's Place.
2. Place all the circles, except the head, one on top of the other, starting with the biggest black circle. Place each smaller pattern on top of the larger pattern. Align all the circles so that they are even at the top and staple them at the top.
3. Glue the legs onto the black body pieces as shown and the antennae to the head. Glue the head onto the body covering the staple as shown. Glue the wings to the back of the book.
Copyright Notice - The craft patterns, ideas, songs, etc. on this web site are copyrighted. You may not publish a copy of them on any other web site, but you may publish a picture of a finished project from this web site on another web site as long as you state where you got the project and include a link back to the project on this web site for the directions and patterns. For example, you may publish a picture a lapbook in which you used a craft from this web site as long as you state where the project came from and include a link.
 Free Bee Candy Dish Craft - This craft is great to use at a party with a bug or bee theme. Place sweet honey candy, Honey Nut Cheerios, or Honey Comb Cereal in the bowl.
What you will need:7 3/8" plastic or paper bowls, card stock (thick paper, Crayons, paint, scissors, and glue
What to do:
1. Print out the pattern onto white card stock. Color the bees face, and cut out the patterns.(Printing Problems?)
2. Paint the paper or plastic bowl or use one that is already black or yellow. Glue the antennae to the head and the head onto one side of the bowl. Glue on the legs and feet. Cut a stinger from black construction paper and glue it to the bowl.
Copyright Notice - The craft patterns, ideas, songs, etc. on this web site are copyrighted. You may not publish a copy of them on any other web site, but you may publish a picture of a finished project from this web site on another web site as long as you state where you got the project and include a link back to the project on this web site for the directions and patterns. For example, you may publish a picture a lapbook in which you used a craft from this web site as long as you state where the project came from and include a link.
Craft Spoon Bee
 What you will need: Wooden craft spoons, yellow
and black markers or paint, yellow fun foam, black pipe cleaners,
wiggly eyes, black pompoms, and glue.
What to do:
- Cut out bee wings from fun foam.
Cut pipe cleaners about two inches long and fold them in half.
Glue them onto the back of the craft spoons with a hot melt glue
gun. You can glue tiny black pompoms on to the end or just
fold the ends down.
- Color the
bees with yellow and black markers.
- Glue on the wings and
eyes. You can use a tiny black pompom for the nose.
 Plaster Bee
What you will need: Plastic spoons, Plaster of
Paris, 3/4" round magnets (optional), tiny wiggly eyes, hot melt
glue gun, black pipe cleaners, red paint or markers, black and yellow
paint or markers, and black and yellow fun foam.
What to do:
1. Set the spoons up so that the cup of the spoon will hold the
Plaster of Paris evenly without spilling out. Set the handles of the spoon on a thin book. You can also use play dough to keep the cup of the spoons
from moving when you are pouring the plaster, but it isn't really
necessary.
2. Mix the plaster according to the directions. Pour a spoonful
of plaster into each plastic spoon and then place a magnet in the
center.
3. When the plaster is dry remove it from the spoons. Let the plaster
shapes dry overnight and then glue on a head cut from black fun
foam, tiny eyes and yellow wings cut from fun foam.
4.Paint the bees with water color paint or color them with permanent markers.
Bee Mobile
 Bee
Balloon Decoration
What
you will need: Two large yellow balloons, yellow and black tissue
paper, Paper glue (rubber cement), black permanent marker, black pipe
cleaner, small black pompoms, tape, and black heavy duty thread to
hang.
What
to do:
1.
Blow up the two yellow balloons, one half the size of the other.
Glue them together using rubber cement pressing the two rounded
ends together. To glue together paint the rubber cement on
each of the balloons and let dry for a few seconds and then press
together.
2.
Cut a strip of black tissue paper about 4" wide and tape around
the center of the body. Cut two large circles of black tissue
paper. Use a plate to trace around. Cut into the circles and cut
out the center. Place one circle around the neck of the bee
like a collar. Cut off any extra tissue paper and tape the
tissue paper down. Do the same at the bottom of the bee.
3.
Crinkle up a sheet of yellow tissue paper bringing the long side
of the tissue paper together to form wings. Tape at the center.
Cut the wings to the right size. Tape them to the back of the bee
at the neck area.
4.
Fold a black pipe cleaner in half, glue a pompom to each end of
the pipe cleaner, and wrap it around the knot on the top of the
bees head.
5.
Draw on eyes and a mouth with a black permanent marker.
6.
Tie a piece of thread to the top of the head to hang the bee.
©2004, Carolyn Warvel -* See Copyright Information
Beehive
Piñata or Decoration - This
beehive can be used as a piñata or just a decoration. If you want
to use it as a decoration you don't have to do the paper mache. Just tape the tissue paper to a white balloon.
What
you will need: News print paper (the stuff used in packaging),
white craft glue, (Elmer's Glue works well), Large round balloon,
Petroleum jelly, Paint, white tissue paper, tape, strong nylon string,
yellow paper, scissors, heavy duty thread.
What
to do:
- To
prepare: Rip up news print paper to about 1" by 3"
strips.
- Blow
up the balloon to the size you want the beehive to be. Smear petroleum
jelly all over the balloon and place it in a bowl that has also
been smeared with petroleum jelly. The bowl should be big enough
to fit only about 1/4 of the balloon in. The bowl will hold the
balloon in place and keep it from rolling around while you
work.
- Cover
your work area with old newspapers or a plastic drop cloth.
- Prepare
the glue mixture in a medium size bowl. To start mix 1/4 cup
glue with 1/2 cup water.
- Soak
some of your paper strips in the glue mixture for a minute or two.
Remove one strip at a time pulling the strips between your fingers
to get rid of any excess glue and place them on the balloon
to form the beehive. (It is important not to use too much glue or it
will take too long to dry). Cover the whole balloon with one layer
of newspapers overlapping them slightly so that there are no holes.
When you have finished the first layer place the balloon with the
bowl in a warm place to dry overnight. Repeat this process. Wind
your nylon string around the balloon a couple of times ending with
both ends of the string at the top of the balloon. You may
have to tape the string in place. Cover the entire balloon
again a few times. When all the layers have dried thoroughly, remove
the balloon from the bowl and punch a hole in it so that the
air is released. Remove the balloon carefully.
- Cut
2" strips of white tissue paper. Starting in the middle of the beehive
tape the tissue paper around the hive. Add new layers overlapping
slightly as you work your way to the top and bottom of the hive.
- Fill
the beehive with candy. For a special effect, wrap each piece of
candy with yellow Handi-wrap twisting the ends to make them look
like bee wings.
- Cover
a long broom handle with brown twisted tissue paper. Twist some
extra pieces of brown tissue paper to make some extra branches.
Glue the branches to the broom handle. Cut out leaves from
green tissue paper and glue them to the end of the branches.
- Print
out the bee
pattern onto
bright yellow paper. Cut out the bees and glue them to the
beehive. Hang some bees from thread. Glue two bees together
so that you can see the bee from both sides.
- Use
as a piñata or hang the beehive in a flag post near your door.
©2002, Carolyn Warvel -* See Copyright Information
 Pompom
Bee Craft - These
are very easy to make, but they do take some time.
What
you will need: black
and yellow yarn, poster board, pipe cleaners, yellow felt, and wiggl y
eyes.
What
to do:
- To
make the bees body cut two three inch circles out of poster board
or other cardboard. Cut two inch circles out of the centers of these
two circles to form a donut shape.
- Hold the two circles together and wrap yellow yarn around the donut
shape through the hole in the center starting at one point and filling
in with yarn until the cardboard is covered. Keep wrapping
the yellow yarn until you come back to the same point you started.
To make things go quicker, cut a long length of the yarn and roll
it up into a small ball. Then start wrapping, pushing the ball through
the hole instead of pulling the whole length of yard through the
whole each time. Don't worry about end pieces that stick out, you
can cut them off later. To keep the yarn in place when you start
a new color just wrap the new piece around the end of the old piece.
Don't tie knots. Instead of using really long pieces of yarn, you
can also use this method with shorter pieces.
- When
you have finished the yellow circle, use black yarn doing the exact
same thing you did with the yellow. Keep alternating yellow
and black yarn until you can't fit any more yarn through the hole.
- To
finish the ball, cut the yarn loops all the way around the edge
of the circle using sharp scissors. When you have cut all
the loops you will see the edge of the card board circles.
Use another piece of yarn to tie the pompom. Separate the two circles
just enough to get the piece of yarn in between the two circles.
Place the yarn all the way around the inside of the circle and pull
tight and tie a knot. Pull off the cardboard circles or cut them
away. Trim any pieces of yarn that are sticking out too far.
Trim the ball to be a little pointy at one end. This is the bees
tail where his stinger is located.
- Make
the bees head in the same manner using yellow yarn except use a
two inch donut instead of a 3 inch donut. I added a little bit of
black, but it isn't necessary.
- When
the head is finished hot melt glue it onto the body. Glue
on eyes and pipe cleaner antennae. Glue on a nose and mouth
if desired.
- See
how many other creatures you can make using pompoms in this manner.
Bees wax candles - Go to "How to Make Honeycomb Beeswax Candles" web site for directions.
Bubble Print Honeycombs -
Explain to the children that you are going to make a honeycomb. Give each
child a piece of bubble wrap and a piece of construction paper. Have them
dip their wrap into paint and press on the paper. Embellish with bee
stickers! Older children can experiment with wax. Have them pour cooled, but
runny paraffin wax over their piece of bubble wrap. Let cool until hard.
Then, gently peel wax off the wrap. Decorate with pompoms for bees or with bee
stickers.
Make Fingerprint Bees - Give each child a piece of paper. Have them press their finger into paint or ink to make fingerprint bees. Decorate with markers or crayons. Glue Honeycomb cereal onto the paper for the hive.
©2002, Carolyn Warvel -* See Copyright Information
Good Books About Bees
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Read "The Bee Tree" by Patricia Polacco
A little girl, tired of reading, wants to go outside and play. Her grandfather uses the opportunity to teach his granddaughter the importance of reading by taking her on a hunt for a bee tree.
The little girl learns that just as there is sweetness in honey, there is sweetness inside a book too. Her grandfather says, "Adventure, knowledge, and wisdom don't come easily. You have to pursue them. Just like we ran after the bees to find their tree, so you must also chase these things through the pages of a book!
The Bible has many verses about the advantages of gaining wisdom and knowledge. You can use this book to open a discussion about the important of studying God's Word and relate it to the sweetness of honey.
"Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off." Proverbs 24:14
"More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." Ps. 19:10 |
Bee Games and Activities
"Beeline"
game (learn the names of common flowers) - You will need different kinds of flowers
cut from paper (use clip art) or artificial silk flowers. You can use
more than one of each kind of flower. Before the game review with the
children what each type of flower is called. Place the flowers all over
the room. Have the children buzz around the room acting like bees. When
you call out the name of a flower the bees look for that type of flower,
grab it up, and make a "beeline" to the hive (finish line).
The first child to make it to the hive with the right kind of flower
wins. (Learning moment. After a bee locates nectar and fills its self
up with it, he takes off in a straight line back to the hive or makes
a "beeline" to the hive.)
Copyright Notice - The craft patterns, ideas, songs, etc. on this web site are copyrighted. You may not publish a copy of them on any other web site, but you may publish a picture of a finished project from this web site on another web site as long as you state where you got the project and include a link back to the project on this web site for the directions and patterns. For example, you may publish a picture a lapbook in which you used a craft from this web site as long as you state where the project came from and include a link.
Plant flowers to attract bees. Plant flowers such as sunflowers, black-eyed Susans, mint, and clover. Spend time in your garden and try to discover which types of flowers they like best. Try to catch a glimpse of the pollen sacks on large bumblebees as they fly from flower to flower. You really can see them. http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/na/bgardn.html
Learn about bees online. Here are some web sites with good information about bee:
1. Nova Online - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bees/
What is honey? - Learn about honey. You will find lots of fun facts about honey on NOVA's web site (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bees/buzz.html).
Look at a close-up picture of a bee - Go to Windows of the Internet to view a close-up picture of a bee. (http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/life/images/bee_jpg_image.html)
Examine a beehive - If possible, bring in an abandoned beehive and comb for the students to examine. Provide magnifying glasses to get an up close look!
Secret Smells - Tell the students that bees recognize each other by using their sense of
smell. Try this out by playing a game of secret smells. Spray or dip cotton
balls in the following scents making two of each: perfume, lemon juice, liquid
spices, vinegar, or any other smell that is easily recognizable. Place these
cotton balls in a plastic bag. Give one to each child making sure that
another child has the match. Have them go around the room using their noses to find their secret partner. If you have a small group or a younger group, just make one of each scent and set them on a table. Have the children try to guess what the scent is.
Bee Posters From AllPosters.com
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