Growing Together: Open Forum

Hello Everyone,

I am at a preschool in Los Angeles. We have a small beehive forming in our natural play scape. We are working on getting it removed safely, without harming the bees. In the meantime I am looking for ideas to support this emergent curriculum. We have binoculars, clipboards with paper, magnifying glasses and a special spot set up to safely observe them. I ordered a few bee stuffies. Any other ideas to support a plan about bees?

Thanks for your help!

Any good preschool bee themed books you know of? Bee songs?

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Nina Moench
DIG Childhood Center
LOS ANGELES CA
4242899619
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Hello Nina,

We do a preschool honeybee program and have used The Beeman by Laurie Krebs. It really goes into detail about the bees, their roles in the hive, and how beekeepers use hives. The students really enjoy it! A word of note however, the illustrator put a cat on most of the pages, which delights the preschoolers each time. They were so excited to see the cat each time that I just started having them wave quietly to the cat when they saw it on the page. 

Beeswax crayons are also good to use in bee curriculum as they add the sensory element of smelling like honey. If you're allowed to pass out food, honey sticks are fun to share with students. 

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Karina Filipowski
Associate Curator of Education and Community Engagement
Macculloch Hall Historical Museum
Morristown, NJ
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https://www.readerstoeaters.com/our-books/the-thing-about-bees 

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Sheila Stratton
Community Action - Head Start/Early Head Start
Lincoln NE
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That sounds like such a wonderful learning opportunity! Along with the observation tools and bee stuffies, you could add bee lifecycle models, a small honeycomb display, or even a taste test of different types of honey to engage their senses. Simple bee-themed crafts like making bee finger puppets or honeycomb art with bubble wrap could be fun too! If space allows, planting bee-friendly flowers nearby could tie in a lesson on pollination. There are also great children's books on bees-"The Honeybee" by Kirsten Hall is a lovely one.

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Kate Brownell
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