5 Cool Ways to Teach Kids About Bees

Bees are some of the most amazing and important little critters on our planet. In fact, bees are responsible for just about one in every three bites of food we eat. And if we want to continue to eat well and share the planet with such important creatures, it's crucial to teach children about bees.

Whether you're a parent or a teacher, here are a few cool ways to get your kids buzzing about bees.

Talk to a Local Beekeeper

The best place to go for information about bees is, well, where someone's job is to take care of bees. A field trip or a family visit to your local beekeeper can prove to be a highly educational experience. Not only will your kids get to talk to someone who works with bees on a daily basis, but they'll also get a chance to see how bees live, work, and make honey up close.

If you can't coordinate a trip to your local beekeeper's, arrange a visit from your local beekeeper to your school. They may be able to come in with some fun bee-related items like a beekeeper's uniform, old beehives, or even some fresh honey for the kids to try.

Plan a Bee Walk

The great thing about bees is that you can see them in action just about anywhere you can find flowers. Consider going to a local park or flower garden with your kids and pointing out bees when you see them. Pull out some interesting bee facts while you walk, too. For instance, bees will visit anywhere from 50 to 100 flowers during a single collection trip for nectar. 

Once you spot a few bees, challenge your kids to count how many flowers they visit while you're watching. This is an excellent way to get a sneak peek into the busy lives of bees. In addition, you can learn about the different kinds of flowers and what the honey made from their nectar might taste like.

Conduct a Honey Taste Test

Speaking of honey, this is one of the more delicious ways to teach children about bees. And you probably won't need to buy honey again for a little while afterward! Simply gather a few different kinds of honey (orange blossom, clover, and buckwheat are all common options), and set up a small taste test for your kids. 

Once they're tasted a honey variation, ask them to write down how it differs from honey they've had before. After all the honey has been taste-tested, you can go into detail about the different kinds of nectar used to make each honey and how that affects the way it tastes. As we said, this is one of the more delicious ways to learn about bees.

Practice Drawing Bees

Bees might seem simple to draw at first, so ask your kids to draw their version of a bee before you do anything else. Once that's done, it's time to teach everyone what a true-to-life bee looks like. Learning that bees have six legs and five eyes might just be mind-blowing. And it will be fun to compare everyone's initial drawings to the true-to-life information they've just received. Not only is this a creative activity, but it's also an excellent opportunity to teach kids how bees operate and the different senses they need to survive.

Teach the Bee Waggle Dance

Scientists have been studying the way bees communicate for a long time. And it just so happens that bees communicate with what we call the "waggle dance." This "dance" is how bees communicate about flowers, pollen, and other things that are important within their colony. What can your kids communicate with waggles? This is an excellent exercise in both bee education and non-verbal communication. Not to mention a fun physical activity!

There is so much to learn about the wonderful world of bees. These are just a few great exercises to use when you're teaching kids about these beautiful buzzing creatures. Which will you use first?