What is Pollination?
LESSON 5
Children learn about pollination through a play-based activity.
The book “Are you a Bee?” by Judy Allens and Tudor Humphries
or listen to read aloud version here
The beehive you made in lesson 3
The bees you made in lesson 4
White pipe cleaners
Leftover popcorn kernels
Felt or paper flower cutouts (optional)
Materials
Gather materials for activity
Cut white pipe cleaners to resemble honey bee larvae
Cut out felt or paper flowers (optional)
Read the story beforehand
Preparations
Promote curiosity and interest in pollinators and pollination
Deepen children's understanding through thoughtful questions
Foster communication skills by encouraging child to discuss their experience
Provide opportunities for children to ask questions
Facilitate a safe and positive learning environment
Objectives for Teachers
Children become curious about pollinators and pollination
Children compare the different types of honeybees in a colony
Children recognize the role of flowers in attracting bees
Children become familiar with pollination through play
Children practice fine motor skills through holding pretend bees and picking up “pollen”
Objectives for Children
Collect and Connect
Five Little Bees
One little bee flew and flew
He met a friend and that made two
Two little bees as busy as can be
Along came another and that made three
Three little bees wanted one more
Found one soon and that made four
Four little bees going to the hive
Saw their little sister and that made five
Five little bees working every hour
Buzz away bees and find another flower
Activity Flow
Begin by asking your child if they remember the different roles of honeybees. Have them point to each bee they made and see if they can remember what type of bee it is and what they do. It’s okay if they don’t remember all the names or jobs.
Tell them you are going to read (perhaps re-read/or listen) “Are you a bee?” by Judy Allens and Tudor Humphries. Read the story, stopping on each page to review the roles of the bees and their jobs.
Tell your child that you have a really fun activity planned and you will need the beehive and the bees you made previously. Tell them that you are missing a few things you will need to play this game, and encourage them to help you create the final items. See if they can guess what the missing items are, turn to page 4, and 16 for clues. Ask your child if they know what the yellow stuff is all over the bee on page 17.
Tell them that every flower has pollen, and for a flower to be able to produce seeds, it needs pollen from another flower of its kind. When bees land on flowers to drink nectar, they also collect pollen. As they fly from flower to flower they drop some of that pollen into other flowers. This is called pollination! Flowers that are pollinated can make seeds. When we eat apples or cucumbers where do we find the seeds? In the fruit or vegetable. So pollination is very important for us to be able to get the fruits and vegetables we need to eat to survive and stay healthy and strong.
Here are the additional items you will need for the pollination game.
Pretend flowers (we made felt flowers, you could also watercolor flowers, use blocks or silks, come up with your own craft idea or even do imaginary flowers)
Larvae (white pipe cleaner cut into smaller pieces)
To start, place your hive and bees on a table and set up flowers around the room or spread out on the table. Use extra corn kernels from hive activity and place a small pile in the center of each flower to represent pollen. Each player will select a bee (queen, drone, or worker) and play the role of that bee. The worker bee will be the busiest, so you can always make additional worker bees and have multiple during the game to accommodate extra players.
Worker bee: This player will collect pollen from the flowers set up around the room/table. Each time you visit a flower, pretend to drink some nectar and collect a few pieces of pollen. When you visit the next flower you will drop a piece of pollen from the last flower into the center of the new flower to mimic pollination. Then you will collect a few new pieces and repeat the process. You will take the pollen back to the hive to feed the larvae, queen, and drone, as well as store some to make honey. And don’t forget to guard the hive from predators! Remember drones don’t have stingers and cannot protect the hive or themselves.
Queen bee: This player will “lay eggs,” by placing larvae in the cells at the hive.
Drone: This player just sits at the hive, so he doesn’t really need a player to hold him.
Predator: An optional but fun role is to have someone play a predator using a hand puppet, or just pretending to be some type of animal (skunk, badger, bear, etc.) that wants honey from the hive.
The game begins once everything is set up, and each person knows their role. The youngest player will call “action!” and it is time to begin. The game is over once all the pollen has been collected and brought back to the hive.
Play again and switch up the roles so that your child is able to play each one if they would like.
4. Pollination Game!
Which role was the hardest?
Who had the most work to do?
Why do you think there are so many worker bees in real life?
Which role was the easiest?
Which role was the most fun to play?
How does pollination happen?
Why are bees so good at pollinating? (because they are small, and their bodies are created to collect and carry pollen)
Why is pollination important? (so that we can have fruits, vegetables, flowers)
5. After the game, discuss the different roles to help deepen the child's knowledge and understanding of honeybees.
6. Ask or answer any additional questions your child may have.
Extension Activity: Take your bees out on a nature walk to visit real flowers. Rub their fuzzy legs on the flower and see if you can collect some real pollen. Some flowers produce more pollen than others. I recommend finding some coneflowers, lilies, squash flowers, or sunflowers.
