"Once you've felt at one with the natural world, it will powerfully compel you to environmental ethics and behavior."
- David Sobel
No matter the season or the holiday (National Honey Bee Day is in August in the U.S.), this is an excellent unit study to explore. We really enjoy these Montessori bee activities for preschool and elementary and we're excited to share them with you.
Bees often get a bad rep and they have such important jobs. As a result, we hope you take the opportunity to enjoy these awesome resources too.
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Not only do bees produce the delicious honey we enjoy and the beeswax we use. They also play an important role in the pollination of some plants. In addition, bee populations are a vital part of our ecosystem and food security.
Unfortunately, these populations are dwindling for several reasons. It's important for kids to learn about and care for the bees in their environment so that they will grow up wanting to protect them. This unit will help encourage that connection.
This Montessori Bee Unit Study actually contains materials applicable to ALL subject areas. We are really excited to share a themed unit that has something for every subject and a variety of ages.
In fact, whether your kids like art, nature, fun in the kitchen, or math, there's something in this unit they are sure to love. Feel free to pick and choose what your children are interested in.
Children ages 2 to 12 will benefit from the activities contained in this unit. You may find that the coloring pages, the wooden beehive sorting activity, the 3-piece puzzles, and the honey tasting work from Wings, Worms, and Wonder are suitable for children just over age 2 and with adult supervision.
I would also recommend The Beehive from The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories, and Fingerplays and Secrets of the Vegetable Garden for the youngest of children. Lots of fun!
The remaining activities, including books and printables, are suitable for children 3-12. The books are actually great for adults too. Something for everyone in these beautiful Montessori bee activities for preschool and elementary.
Montessori Bee Activities for Preschool and Elementary
This Montessori Bee unit study contains books, printables, and activities that cover Sensorial, Practical Life, Language, Math, Science, Geography, Art, and Music for children ages 2-12. It covers topics such as colors and numbers for young children, all the way to Bee Anatomy, Bee Life Cycle, Pollination, Flower Anatomy, Ecology, etc. for older students.
Books
- Wings, Worms, and Wonder (Montessori Primary Curriculum Resource AND Montessori Elementary Curriculum Resource)
- Farm Anatomy
- Curious Kids Nature Guide: Explore the Amazing Outdoors of the Pacific Northwest
- Bees - A Honeyed History
- Secrets of the Vegetable Garden
- The Best Book of Bugs
- Cabinet of Curiosities
- The Big Book of Bugs
- Atlas of Animal Adventures
- Curiositree: Natural World
- The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories, and Fingerplays (Montessori Primary Curriculum Resource)
The Bee Mother is the latest from the Mothers of Xsan series by Brett D. Huson, Hetxw'ms Gyetxw with gorgeous illustrations by Natasha Donovan. Learn about bees, life cycles, and seasons.
This is easily one of my favorite series.
incredible reads!
Books by Indigenous Authors
For your home or homeschool library.
Tour eco-farms around the world, including a honey farm in Yemen. Continue the learning with delightful illustrations and in-depth discussion of each farm at the back of the book.
In Food for the Future, the tour concludes with a call to action.
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Activities/Shelf Work
This honey bee puzzle provides a hands-on opportunity to learn all about bees! Explore the life cycle of bees, the development of a honey bee, the jobs of each type of honey bee, and how their roles contribute to a healthy hive.
- Wooden Beehive Color Sorting
- 3-Piece Sequence Puzzles
- Montessori Flower Puzzle
- Honey Comparison Activity from Wings, Worms, and Wonder
We've enjoyed the honey comparison on several occasions and enjoy using honey in a variety of recipes, including these easy einkorn pancakes.
Tocabe Indigenous Marketplace sells honey that makes a perfect sampler set.
Native-sourced staples!
Tocabe Indigenous Marketplace
Convenient, nutritious eating - the Indigenous way.
- Bread Recipe
- DIY Bookmark Activity
- Bee Coloring Pages
- Fact Cards
- Flower Dissection
- Anatomy of a Flower
- Flower Nomenclature Cards
- Bee Life Cycle Matching and Sequencing
- Bee Life Cycle Nomenclature Cards
- Anatomy of a Bee
- Bee Math
- Poetry from The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories, and Fingerplays
- Rhyme Sequencing
- Music
- Puppetry
- Art Appreciation
- Nature Journaling
- Art Prompts
- Handwriting & Number Tracing
- Vocabulary with Movable Alphabet
- Spielgaben and Nature Inspiration Cards
Printables
There are 3 printable packs that we used for this Montessori Bee Unit Study along with one free bee bookmark printable, and some free flower Nomenclature Cards. The activities mentioned above can be completed using materials from more than one printable pack, so I will list them here as well for ease of organization in planning.
These printables cover most subject areas. Depending on the ages of your students and what subjects you'd like to cover, you can decide if you want all or just a selection of them.
- Honey Bees Unit Study
- Honey Bee Study Pack (also available in Spanish)
- Pollination (Save 16% off your first purchase from Montessorikiwi here)
- Free Flower Nomenclature Cards
- Free Bee Bookmark Printable
We have a nice selection of Bee printables. Some were included in a Summer Bundle. The Honey Bee Study Pack by Wild Feather Edu is also available in Spanish, so we may decide to add that on in the future. Our kids have really enjoyed these printables. They're beautiful and affordable, so I would definitely recommend them.
What This Montessori Bee Unit Study Looks Like For Us
Wooden Beehive Stacking and Sorting Work
This wooden beehive work is popular with all of our kids but our youngest daughter is not quite 2.5 and she can not get enough. It's a great transferring work and encourages color matching, development of fine motor skills, strength, hand-eye coordination, the pincer grasp, stacking, and open-ended play.
Our oldest was really into this work around the same age and you'll notice it was on display as soon as we setup our Montessori Shelves several years ago. Adult supervision for children under 3 is recommended as the bees are small.
Montessori Bee Activities for Preschool and Elementary: Shelf Work
These are our Language/Science shelves. These works are mostly for our 4 and 5.5 y.o. The easier works are on the bottom and the activities increase in difficulty as you go up. This type of shelf arrangement works well for our kids.
Our oldest likes to read the bee fact cards and pollination matching cards aloud for everyone to discuss.
Also, we have a lot of bees by us and a few beekeepers live on neighboring farms. As a result, there's lots of bee inspiration and discussion in our homeschool.
Flower Anatomy, Dissection, and Nature Journaling
This flower work was a lot of fun and a great introduction to flower anatomy before diving into pollination. More specifically, they picked out some flowers, we cut the rose in half, and then they matched the parts of the flower to the Nomenclature cards. Finally, they used these stunning Flower Anatomy and Journaling pages by Wild Feather Edu to sketch what they saw. Our kids really enjoyed this Montessori bee activity for preschool and elementary.
We keep our Art and Handwriting printables in the cabinet in our Montessori Art and Handwriting Space. As a result, our kids can grab whatever they'd like to work on whenever they're feeling inspired.
Bee Bookmarks
Our 3 oldest children really enjoyed making these bee bookmarks by Nature Inspired Learning. To create the bookmarks, they colored them, cut them out, and glued them to some brightly colored cardstock for durability. Also, this Bees: A Honeyed History book is one of our favorites. It's large enough to gather around on the floor and discuss as a family.
Summary for Montessori Bee Activities for Preschool and Elementary
This is a fabulous Montessori Bee Unit Study and we're so excited to be able to share it with you. In fact, there are enough books, printables, and activities to encourage learning about these remarkable creatures while incorporating various subject areas. We hope you have enjoyed seeing these activities and are inspired to learn more about these wonderful insects in time for National Honey Bee Day!
More Unit Studies
- Geology and Paleontology Preschool Unit
- Tree Unit Study
- Oceania and Coral Reef Unit
- Antarctica Preschool Unit
- Montessori Solar System Unit Study
- Grace and Courtesy
- Montessori Multicultural Helpers Unit
Thanks for stopping by!
- Kristin
Montessori Bee Activities for Preschool and Elementary
Affordable Montessori Bee Activities for Preschool and Elementary students contains books, printables, and hands-on materials. Interdisciplinary bee activities for kids. All subject areas, including Practical Life and Ecology.
Materials
- Wings, Worms, and Wonder
- Farm Anatomy
- Curious Kids Nature Guide
- Bees - A Honeyed History
- Secrets of the Vegetable Garden
- The Best Book of Bugs
- Cabinet of Curiosities
- The Big Book of Bugs
- Atlas of Animal Adventures
- Curiositree: Natural World
- The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories, and Fingerplays
- The Bee Mother
- Food for the Future
- Double-Sided Honey Bee Puzzle
- Wooden Beehive Color Sorting
- 3-Piece Sequence Puzzles
- Montessori Flower Puzzle
- Movable Alphabet
- Spielgaben with Nature Inspiration Cards
- Colored Pencils
- Scissors
- Glue
- Cardstock
- Flower
- Selection of Honey
- Honey Bees Unit Study printable
- Honey Bee Study Pack printable
- Pollination printable
- Free Flower Nomenclature Cards printable
- Free Bee Bookmark printable
Tools
- See Materials List
Instructions
- Kids can use the wooden beehive for transferring, stacking and open-ended play. It encourages skills such as color matching, development of fine motor skills, strength, hand-eye coordination, and development of the pincer grasp. Adult supervision for children under 3 is recommended as the bees are small.
- Prepare the environment with works including bee fact cards, pollination matching cards, life cycle of a bee 3 part cards, Farm Anatomy book open to display the parts of a beehive, Montessori flower puzzle, and flower 3 part cards.
- Kids can obtain a flower for dissection and explore its anatomy. Afterward, they can use the printables to complete nature journaling activities.
- Preschoolers and up can make their own bookmarks using the bookmark printable, cardstock, colored pencils, scissors, and glue.
- Include bee unit books in the environment and explore with kids as they show interest. They can mark their spot using their bee bookmarks.
- Introduce any additional activities the kids show interest in. There are a lot of them so don't feel like they need to complete them all. Include activities appropriate for their readiness and in the desired subjects. Allow time for repetition and mastery.
Notes
Full Lesson Info and Pictures at: https://happyhomeschooladventures.com/montessori-bee-unit-study/
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