6 Honey Bee Books for Beekeeping Dramatic Play
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What did the queen bee say to the naughty bee?
Bee-hive yourself! haha
I have a love/hate relationship with bees.
They make delicious honey and do amazing things for our ecosystem, but they are also scary – especially to young children.
And rightly so. Last year there was a hidden hive near the playground and 12 kindergarteners were stung. Fortunately, no one was allergic but it was quite traumatic. Stories like this don’t help my quest to Save the Honey Bees!
That is why I’m bringing honeybees to the classroom.
Our kids need to learn their value and ways we can coexist.
But before I can get into the details – we need to be clear on something:
In order for anything in nature to be meaningful to children they need to believe their teachers value nature. Your attitude towards these buzzing bees makes all the difference. So if you’re afraid, read up! Lack of knowledge is mostly the cause. There are many children picture books about honey bees, and this is a good place to start.
Here are a few honeybee picture book favorites:
Author: Katie Daynes
Simple non-fiction flap book that provides information about bees: why we need them, how they make honey and answers many of the common questions children ask about bees.
Author: Laurie Krebs
This is a book told through a child about his grandpa who is a beekeeper. This picture book rhymes and covers the process of honey making with interesting facts in the back!
Author: Suzanne Slade
This book teaches children about the importance of honey bees. It explains things like the food chain, flowers and pollination, predators, and what would happen if bees became extinct.
Author: Jennifer Szymanski
This is a simple non-fiction pre-reader book that uses interesting real life photographs about honey bees.
Bee A Peek-Through Picture Book
Author: Britta Teckentrup
This is a colorful book that has peekaboo holes on each page that reveals how bees and flowers work together, a great book to hold the interest of little learners.
Author: Richard Fowler
This is another interactive book where the lines of text happen to be the honey bees flight pattern.
After learning about honey bees you will discover
Honeybees are important insects.
As Krebs mentions in The Beeman, “Without their help in pollination, we would miss out on many fruits, nuts and vegetables we love to eat.”
To extend students learning from the books you read in class I have created dramatic play enter materials for preschoolers where they can act out roles of a beekeeper, cashier and customer at a honey market stand. Learn more here.
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Hi there, my name is Teresa. I am the teacher author behind Dream Big Little One. I love creating standards based resources that are fun and engaging for young learners.