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Spring has sprung in our neck of the woods. 

We hear birds chirping, the flowers are blossoming and bees are buzzing!

Bring Spring inside by setting up these fun honey bee dramatic play centers.

Taking care of a bee hive pretend play

 And,

Running a Honey Market Stand Dramatic Play

To get the children familiar with beekeeping and the value honey bees bring to our ecosystem read some fiction and non-fiction picture books.  You can find a few of my favorites here.

To set up the bee keeping station:

Begin by collecting materials that could be used for props. 

• Cardboard filing box – use for the beehive
• Hanging file folders – use to make honey frames
• Paint scraper – use to scrap the honey from the frames
• Large white shirt, trimmed to size – bee suit
• Garden gloves – bee keeper gloves
• Straw hat, mesh fabric – bee keeper hat.  
• Silk flowers – use to decorate the area

I bought a straw hat from the dollar store, and hot glued mesh fabric around the rim.  From there, I glued on laminated bees. 

For the beehive I had a cardboard file storage box that I wrapped in self-adhesive film.  If you don’t want to buy the film, you and the children could easily paint the box brown.  From here, glue on laminated honey bees all over the box.

Next, I glued honey frame sheets (printables found in my Honey Bee Dramatic Play resource), and glued to the file folders.  I removed the metal hangers and laminated to increase durability. I glued the metal hangers back to the folders, and clipped them together until they dried. 

Now for the fun part…

You’ll notice the honey frames have details the preschoolers can look for when inspecting the health of the hive, like signs of predators.

I printed the inspector logs, laminated and attached to a mini-clipboard with a dry erase pen.  The student can inspect the hive by completing the log.  What a fun way to incorporate literacy skills into dramatic play. 

Once your props are created, set up the center by placing a stool or small table where the bee hive box can be placed, low enough so the top is easily accessible to the children.

To set up the Honey Market Stand 

Like the bee keeper center, begin by collecting materials that could be used for props. 

• Small/Med/Large play doh containers – use for the honey jars
• Toy cash register with coins – use to “purchase” honey
• Apron – for the seller to wear
• Name tag lanyards – for kids to assume roles like “seller”, “customer”, etc.

Set up counter space to place the cash register, and honey jars with signage to make it look like a market stand. To incorporate math into the center I made honey jars out of play doh containers is three different sizes – small, medium and large.  I also included simple coins as prices for the jars of honey, encouraging students to count money in exchange for honey. 

 If you’re interested in learning more about honey bees and dramatic play you can get all of the ready made printables, at my store. 

You can also get the Save the Bees! posters for free by joining my library here.