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

Activity 3: Story - What Bees Do At Home

Part of Creating Home

Activity time: 15 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Collect photographs of bees and beehives to show to your group. Good sources are nature magazines, websites, and books for children about bees; see "Leader Resources" for suggestions.
  • Review, download, and print the story, "What Bees Do at Home." Practice reading the story aloud so you will be able to present it effectively.

Description of Activity

Children will learn about the beehive community and connect the beehive with the broader theme of "home" as you present an interactive, factual story that describes what bees do at "home."

Gather children in a circle. Invite them to share what they know about bees. Uncovering what children already know is an important part of this process. They may tell you that bees make honey, and that bees collect pollen and nectar from flowers. If they mention that bees sting, let them know that not all bees sting and that bees sting only to protect themselves.

Affirm that the children already know a good deal about bees. Tell them that now you want to talk about the bee's home, or "beehive." Indicate the beehive on Leader Resource 2, Beehive Poster. Show and pass around the photographs that you have collected of bees and beehives.

The provided story, "What Bees Do at Home" includes prompts for asking the children to demonstrate behaviors you talk about, such as how bees eat or sleep. This allows the children to move around and interact with the story. Make sure participants have enough room to move. You may find other places to add movement, too.

You can also keep children involved by asking questions. Many are suggested in the text of the story.

If you are more comfortable telling what bees do at home in your own words, feel free to do so. Gauge the group's attention span, and pick and choose the information you will share. The story's purpose here is to introduce the beehive community to children in an engaging way, in order to help them relate beehive life to the broad theme of "home."

If the children will do Activity 4: Sending the Bees Home, make sure you end this activity with a discussion of things bees might do "at home."