Bees in the classroom

The children had the pleasure learning about honey bees in class! Bees tend to be a misunderstood friend, especially to a preschooler. Children know the make honey, that they visit flowers and that they sting. 

We had a community helper who is a bee keeper come in to lead our conversation. 

The children, Miss Jocelyn and I had an in depth conversation about all of these topics and I know I learnt some new facts. 

This is honey. Did you know honey is bee barf?! Bees collect pollen and drink nectar and then regurgitate honey into combs. We found out one of bees favourite flowers to collect from is Dandelions. It's important to leave some out in the neighbourhood for the bees, even though we love collecting them for moms, dads and teachers. 

These combs are where they put the honey but also where the queen lays her eggs. There is only one queen bee in a hive. Boy bees are called drones. There are guard bees at the front of the hive to protect the honey from robbers such as other honey bees or wasps.  The bees who collect nectar and pollen are all girl bees. Next time you see a bee on a flower make sure you praise her and say "good work girl!"

This piece smelt like wax. 

We misunderstand bees because bees misunderstand us. To help us over come our anxiety we were allowed to snuggle this stuffed bee. Miss Jocelyn uses this bee suit incase she scares the bees. She has not been stung once this year. Bees don't like to sting because it will cause them to die. Often we are stung by bees if we step on them. 

In the gym we played "bees and robbers"

One child hides their eyes while another child take the "bees honey". Then we sing "isn't it funny how bees like honey? Buzz buzz buzz!"  It's a great way to learn about patience, turn taking, rhyming, rhythm and team work. The children would cheer on whomever was running with the honey. They are great friends. 

Before Miss Jocelyn left she told us how bees communicate to other bees about amazing flowers they find, by doing a dance called the waggle dance. 

During last circle we pretended we were bees. Ms Asha would call out a number and when the children found the number they needed to do the waggle dance for their friends. The other children would notice where the number was by where their friend was smiling and dancing. 

Some children are so much fun to watch. One child was annoyed that she wasn't finding the numbers first. She came up with a strategy and was waiting by the number 8 patiently. Once I said "eight" she jumped up and began dancing. She showed so much determination and thought process waiting for this one number. No one was upset and she was very proud.

We cannot wait to Learn more about bees, bugs and flowers. 

Ms Asha