Bee Games

Life as a Honeybee Game

Change your classroom and children in to a colony of bees. Select a queen bee and have her wear a crown and sit on a chair in the middle of the classroom. Select one drone to sit with the queen. The rest of the children are the workers and baby bees. The workers wear aprons. Some of the workers may feed the queen, drone, and the babies honey cereal. Other workers may pack pollen cells (use blocks), clean the hive, stand guard, or collect pollen and nectar.

Bee Dances

Field bees tell other field bees where to find nectar-rich flowers by dancing on the honeycomb. You can make your own dance steps by making multiple copies of the children’s footprints and arrows. Laminate these copies and tape them to the floor in the following patterns:

• The Circular Dance
  The circular dance says, “Flowers are close to the hive. If you fly in ever bigger circles around the hive, you will find the flowers.”
• The Wag-Tail Dance
  The wag-tail dance says, “Let me show you where the flowers are located relative to the sun.” The bee dances a half circle in one direction, then turns and dances in a straight line while wagging her tail. She then dances another half circle in the other direction. The direction of the tail-wagging dance shows the other bees the location of the flowers in relation to the sun. The number of waggles shows how far from the hive the flowers are located.

Beehive Game

Have the children stand and hold the edge of a large sheet. Select five children to hide under the sheet. They will be the bees in the hive. The children holding the sheet sing the song Five Busy Bees. While they are singing, the five bees come buzzing out of the hive. Play again until all children have a chance to be a bee if they would like.