What would a bug-themed week be without our favorite buzzing friends- the bumble bees?!  I started our week with some hands-on bumble bee activities I knew the kids would go crazy over.  Sure enough, I was right and these two buzz-worthy sensory activities had my little learners so engaged. 

Activity #1: Hungry Bumble Bee Sensory Bin 

Setting Up the Bee Sensory Bin

To create my hungry bumble bee sensory bin, I first gathered my materials. You will need:

• Two sensory bins
• Water
• Yellow food coloring
• Ice Trays (these are also SO cute)
• Turkey Baster or Droppers 
• Artificial Flowers (optional, just used as a visual)
  

I printed and laminated my real-world visual, “How Bees Make Honey” (from my Bug Week lesson plans), and displayed it to introduce the activity.  

Hungry Bee Activity 

In one sensory bin, I colored the water yellow to be the nectar. Then students used a turkey baster to move the nectar from the flower bin to the ice tray honeycombs. Younger learners love freely playing at the sensory tables moving the liquid back and forth and figuring out how to not overflow their beehives. This is great for developing those early pouring and measurement skills. 

Using the turkey baster was amazing for my little one’s fine motor skills. One of my toddlers struggled at first, but by the end she was squeezing the top, holding the water, and transferring it into the ice trays. 

Once kids have gotten the hang of transferring the liquid, you can choose to extend the activity by bringing out the counting cards. Each card shows a ten frame with the number (1-20) of drops they need to move to the hive. Depending on the age and abilities of your students you can always differentiate which cards you use. 

This activity was a great science lesson on bees and fine motor practice AND it extended our counting skills from 1-10 to 1-20 with our ten frames as visuals! 

Activity #2: Build a Beehive

Setting Up the Beehive Activity

For this activity, we are focused on the shape, of a hexagon, as well as learning about bees. To get set up, I pulled out my trusty sorting tray (have you noticed he makes frequent appearances around here?) and filled it with honeycomb cereal, counting cards, and play-doh.

I also added some toy bees and black and yellow pipe cleaners for fun, but you don’t need them to complete the activity. 

Building a Beehive Activity

Before letting the kids get started, I modeled how to flatten the play-doh so it could be the base of the beehive. Then we picked a “build it” card and used the honeycomb to create the shape. Then the little ones got to work making their hives!

They LOVED this activity and had so much fun making the toy bees fly from hive to hive, and transfer nectar just like we learned about in the sensory bin. It was also great for their fine motor skills rolling the play-doh and arranging the small cereal. 

One tip I will pass on (since I have learned the hard way) is not to keep the play-doh around once it has gotten sugary cereal crumbs on it. It gets pretty gross.

All of the printables and instructions for both of these activities can be found in my Bug Week lesson plans in my shop! It includes 5 days' worth of book recommendations, hands-on activities, and more. 

If you want to see my activities in action make sure you are following me on Tik Tok or Instagram, where I regularly post videos of what we get up to in my classroom!