Growing Together: Open Forum

Hello Gardineers,

We're planning a pollination activity where students will role play as bees, flying from "flower" to "flower" and picking up "pollen" with a cotton ball or swab to simulate pollination as realistically as possible for second and third graders.

Because we run back-to-back classes all day, I'm trying to figure out how to manage materials so the "pollen" doesn't spill, get muddy/discolored or otherwise descend into chaos before lunch. 

I'd love to hear all your hacks: materials, setup, cleanup systems or anything you've learned from doing this kind of activity multiple times in a row.

Thank you!

I half fill clear plastic pint tubs (like the kind you get from the deli counter) with shaved sidewalk chalk or spices with a lot of color (you can get this cheap in bulk at Winco). I keep it dry. The students use white pipe cleaners folded in half as their insect legs to dip in different "pollen".  

Hello Gardineers,

We're planning a pollination activity where students will role play as bees, flying from "flower" to "flower" and picking up "pollen" with a cotton ball or swab to simulate pollination as realistically as possible for second and third graders.

Because we run back-to-back classes all day, I'm trying to figure out how to manage materials so the "pollen" doesn't spill, get muddy/discolored or otherwise descend into chaos before lunch. 

I'd love to hear all your hacks: materials, setup, cleanup systems or anything you've learned from doing this kind of activity multiple times in a row.

Thank you!

I'm loving all the new ideas!  I've used a few simple but fun methods to help students get a better idea of different aspects of pollination.  One is a relay type game.  I take two styrofoam or plastic egg crates to represent a honeycomb, and place them about 15-20 feet away, and about 4 feet apart.  Have the students form two lines.  Place a container of water that is tinted bright yellow with paint or food coloring at the head of each line.  Give the student at the head of each line a plastic spoon.  Each student must then scoop a spoonful of the liquid with their spoon and carry it to the egg crate and pour it in, then bring the spoon back to the next person in line.  The object is to see which team can fill their "honeycomb" egg crate first.  It illustrates how much work each bee needs to do in order to make a small amount of honey.🍯 

Another fun game with a snack attached, is to draw flowers on squares of paper.  Place the flower papers on a table, and then place small bowls or cups of Cheetos in the center of the paper.  As students each grab a handful of Cheetos, the "Cheedle" dust will drop onto the flowers.  Once the students finish their snack, move the bowls, and voila!  They've visibly pollinated the flowers.

I half fill clear plastic pint tubs (like the kind you get from the deli counter) with shaved sidewalk chalk or spices with a lot of color (you can get this cheap in bulk at Winco). I keep it dry. The students use white pipe cleaners folded in half as their insect legs to dip in different "pollen".  

Hello Gardineers,

We're planning a pollination activity where students will role play as bees, flying from "flower" to "flower" and picking up "pollen" with a cotton ball or swab to simulate pollination as realistically as possible for second and third graders.

Because we run back-to-back classes all day, I'm trying to figure out how to manage materials so the "pollen" doesn't spill, get muddy/discolored or otherwise descend into chaos before lunch. 

I'd love to hear all your hacks: materials, setup, cleanup systems or anything you've learned from doing this kind of activity multiple times in a row.

Thank you!

Hello Gardineers,

We're planning a pollination activity where students will role play as bees, flying from "flower" to "flower" and picking up "pollen" with a cotton ball or swab to simulate pollination as realistically as possible for second and third graders.

Because we run back-to-back classes all day, I'm trying to figure out how to manage materials so the "pollen" doesn't spill, get muddy/discolored or otherwise descend into chaos before lunch. 

I'd love to hear all your hacks: materials, setup, cleanup systems or anything you've learned from doing this kind of activity multiple times in a row.

Thank you!

Hello! I have played the "Be the Bee" game found in the attached booklet that I obtained from the Cabot Creamery website several years ago (this particular booklet does not seem to be on their website anymore). Basically you have containers/buckets representing flowers and then another container/bucket representing the beehive. And you just use crumpled up pieces of yellow paper to represent the pollen. Rather than using cotton balls or swabs, the children (bees) just use their hands and pick up one piece of pollen (yellow paper) at a time to bring back to their hive (bucket). Then the game provides different scenarios that show how loss of habitat, chemicals, parasites result in less pollination; for each scenario, you might eliminate some of the flowers or have fewer bees collecting pollen. Overall, it's a simple set-up and clean-up. Hope that helps!

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Karen Stuppi
Children's Librarian
New Brunswick Free Public Library
60 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
kstuppi@nbfpl.org

Original Message:
Sent: 04-23-2026 04:54:38 PM
From: Christina Abuelo
Subject: Pollination Activity Advice

Hello Gardineers,

We're planning a pollination activity where students will role play as bees, flying from "flower" to "flower" and picking up "pollen" with a cotton ball or swab to simulate pollination as realistically as possible for second and third graders.

Because we run back-to-back classes all day, I'm trying to figure out how to manage materials so the "pollen" doesn't spill, get muddy/discolored or otherwise descend into chaos before lunch. 

I'd love to hear all your hacks: materials, setup, cleanup systems or anything you've learned from doing this kind of activity multiple times in a row.

Thank you!

------------------------------
Christina Abuelo
School Garden Equity Catalyst
Barrio Botany
San Diego, CA

m: 858-210-2628
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Hello Gardineers,

We're planning a pollination activity where students will role play as bees, flying from "flower" to "flower" and picking up "pollen" with a cotton ball or swab to simulate pollination as realistically as possible for second and third graders.

Because we run back-to-back classes all day, I'm trying to figure out how to manage materials so the "pollen" doesn't spill, get muddy/discolored or otherwise descend into chaos before lunch. 

I'd love to hear all your hacks: materials, setup, cleanup systems or anything you've learned from doing this kind of activity multiple times in a row.

Thank you!

Hello Gardineers,

We're planning a pollination activity where students will role play as bees, flying from "flower" to "flower" and picking up "pollen" with a cotton ball or swab to simulate pollination as realistically as possible for second and third graders.

Because we run back-to-back classes all day, I'm trying to figure out how to manage materials so the "pollen" doesn't spill, get muddy/discolored or otherwise descend into chaos before lunch. 

I'd love to hear all your hacks: materials, setup, cleanup systems or anything you've learned from doing this kind of activity multiple times in a row.

Thank you!

Hello Gardineers,

We're planning a pollination activity where students will role play as bees, flying from "flower" to "flower" and picking up "pollen" with a cotton ball or swab to simulate pollination as realistically as possible for second and third graders.

Because we run back-to-back classes all day, I'm trying to figure out how to manage materials so the "pollen" doesn't spill, get muddy/discolored or otherwise descend into chaos before lunch. 

I'd love to hear all your hacks: materials, setup, cleanup systems or anything you've learned from doing this kind of activity multiple times in a row.

Thank you!