Musical Drawings
Provide the children with large pieces of paper and crayons or felt-tip markers. Play the classical piece "The Flight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky-Korsakov. Encourage the children to think of their crayons or markers as "bees" as they draw to the music.
Bees in Honeycombs
Cut empty toilet tissue tubes and paper towel tubes into sections of varying lengths. Let the children make honeycombs by paper-clipping or gluing sections of tubes together, side by side. Then have the children make bees, using playdough for bodies and peppercorns for eyes. Bake the playdough bees at 250 degrees for about an hour, depending on their sizes. Let the children glue their bees to their honeycombs.
Balloon Bees
Blow up a yellow balloon for each child. Let the children use their balloons to make "bees" by drawing stripes around them with black felt-tip markers. If desired, have the children add circle stickers for eyes (or have them draw eyes on their bees with the markers). When the children have finished, let them tap their balloon bees up and down in the air as they "buzz" around the room.
Bumblebee on My Nose
Sung to : "Jingle Bells"
Bumblebee, bumblebee,
Landing on my toes.
Bumblebee, bumblebee,
Now he's on my nose.
On my arms, on my legs,
On my elbows.
Bumblebee, oh, bumblebee,
Now he lands and then he goes!
Honeycomb Observation
Bring in a real honeycomb for the children to examine. Explain that a honeycomb is made out of wax that the bees make with their bodies. The honeycomb serves as a nest for the bees and as a place for storing their honey.
"B" Hive Game
Cover a small box with brown paper to make a beehive. Cut a slit in the top of the beehive and label it with the letter "B". Cut bee shapes out of construction paper. Glue pictures of things that have names beginning with "B" and pictures of things that have names beginning with other letters on the bee shapes. Explain to the children that only the bees that have pictures of things whose names begin with "B" can go into the "B" hive. Then let the children take turns selecting a bee and deciding whether or not it can go into the beehive.
Here Is the Beehive
Cut a beehive shape and five bee shapes out of felt. Attach the bees in a column to a piece of yarn or fishing line and place them on a flannelboard. Before you recite the poem below, place the beehive over the bee column, leaving the top of the piece of yarn exposed. Then read the poem. As you begin counting, slowly pull the bees out of the beehive, one at a time.
Here is the beehive.
Where are the bees?
Hidden away where nobody sees.
Here they come buzzing
Out of the hive -
One, two, three, four, and five!
Buzzing Game
Select two children to be searchers. Have them leave the room while you and the other children hide an object. When the searchers return, have the other children start buzzing. The closer the searchers get to the hidden object, the louder the others should buzz. The farther away the searchers get, the softer the others should buzz. When the object is found, select two more children to be the searchers. Continue until all children have had a turn being the searchers.