Tapestry of Faith: Creating Home: A Program on Developing a Sense of Home Grounded in Faith for Grades K-1

Taking It Home: Beehive

Part of Creating Home

The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams. – Henry David Thoreau

IN TODAY’S SESSION…

During our discussions of finding home in a particular place, the Creating Home group learned about the homes of other animals and compared some of them to our homes. This session explored what happens inside a beehive and how bees carry out certain functions of a home, such as providing a place to prepare and eat food, rest or sleep, and care for the young and elderly; sheltering inhabitants from storms, heat, and cold; and providing a place for the inhabitants to be together.

In today’s session we compared a beehive to our own home, which serves many of the same functions. Homes make us feel safe because they provide a place for us to eat, sleep, be together, and find shelter. In later sessions of Creating Home, we will consider how our faith home can serve many of the same functions.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about…

Look for teachable moments to discuss the functions of a home with your child. For instance, during your bedtime ritual, you can mention that it’s nice to have a home that provides a safe and cozy place to sleep at night. When you cross the threshold into your home during inclement weather, you can express thankfulness for a place where you can stay dry or warm.

EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try…

A Family Game

Ask your child to teach you the hand motions to this poem, which the children learned in today’s session:

Here is the beehive

(Raise your closed fist with the back of your hand facing away from you.)

Where are the bees?

Hidden inside where nobody sees.

Now they come creeping out of the hive.

(Slowly begin to unfold your hand.)

One, two, three, four, five…

(Quickly pop up one finger for each number.)

Buzzzzzzzz!

(Move your fingers to imitate bees flying.)

A Family Adventure

Bees help human beings in a wide variety of ways. You can explore some of this variety by going to a health food store and looking to see how many products you can find that have ingredients produced by, or help by, bees. You can look not only for honey and products containing royal jelly or beeswax, but also various kinds of produce which are pollinated by bees.

You might also wish to explore around your yard or a nearby park and see if you find bees at work. Examine the bees in their natural habitat. What kinds of flowers do they like? How do they fly – for short distances or long? In a straight line or on a wiggling one? Can you find more than one kind of bee, such as a honey bee and bumble bee? Remind children that bees are wonderful friends to people, but that they don’t like to be touched, and should be viewed from a respectful distance.

FAMILY DISCOVERY

Bee society is complex and there is a wealth of information available to all ages, especially about honeybees. For some factual background, visit the Tapestry of Faith website and select this curriculum, Creating Home (Living Faith, Kindergarten/First Grade). Choose Session 3: Beehive. Go to the Resources page and find Leader Resource, Background on Bees and Beehives.

Books for children about bees include:

Bees by Larry Dane Brimner (Grolier, 1999)

The Honeybee and the Robber: A Moving Picture Book by Eric Carle (Philomel Books, 1981)

The Honey Makers by Gail Gibbons (Morrow, 1997)

The Life and Times of the Honeybee by Charles Micucci (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1995)

Life of the Honey Bee by Heiderose and Andreas Fischer-Nagel (Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1986)

The Magic School Bus: Inside a Beehive by Joanne Cole, illustrated by Bruce Degen (Scholastic, 1998)

There are also many websites about bees, some of which include puzzles and games you and your child can do together. Two of these are the British Beekeepers Association website and the National Honey Board website.