Storytime: Bees!

Bees! They are a fun topic for a summer storytime, or when you’re doing a nature/STEAM storytime. I’m pretty afraid of bees, but I know how vitally important they are to our environment, so I try not to include any of my personal hesitancy that could make the kids bias toward them, haha!

Introduction: Because bees have such a vital role in our environment and the rippling effects of them dying off would be catastrophic. Food chains and ecosystems would be thrown off, causing animal and flora extinctions without human intervention. These concepts are kind of hard to explain with kids, but I always go the route of being honest and not dumbing things down. So I talk about all the wonderful things bees do, such as pollinate plants that other animals or even humans eat. Then I ask the question, “What would those animals, and humans, do if there were no bees to help the plants grow?” Last time I did this storytime, I got some pretty amazing answers that weren’t too far from the truth! Then, of course we sang our Hello Song!

Sign of the Day: Ok, so the way I learned the word “Bee” is a little different. The first part, the ‘F’ hand sign, poking the cheek is exactly what I learned. The second part is where it varies. Instead of what he’s doing below, I learned to use the ‘B’ hand sign and gently swipe the same cheek. Kind of as if you’re swatting away a bee that stung you.

Book: Bee Dance by Rick Chrustowski

What a fantastic non-fiction introduction to the work bees do! Follow a bee as they find nectar, then return to their hive, doing a waggle dance, moving in a special figure-eight pattern to share the location of the food! After reading, we do our own waggle dance and pretend to be bees!

Rhyme: Bees Fly High. I had never heard the second part of this rhyme until just recently when a coworker, D, did it for a virtual program. I’m never going back to the original way I learned it!

Bees Fly High
Here is the beehive (make fist)
But where are all the bees? (shrug)
They’re hiding inside, where no one can see. (peek inside fist)
Here they come, out of the hive. (make hand vibrate)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5! (pull out fingers, one by one)
Bees fly high (Wiggle fingers high), Bees fly low (Wiggle fingers low)
Bees fly fast (Wiggle fingers fast), Bees fly slow (Wiggle fingers slow)
Back to the hive! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5! (Pull fingers in, one by one)

Book: Please Please the Bees by Gerald Kelley

Benedict the bear likes his routine! And part of that routine is the delicious honey he receives from the bees every single morning. But one day, the bees go on strike! What’s a bear to do? This is a wonderful book that promotes looking after each other.

Song: The Bees Go Buzzing (Tune: The Ants Go Marching)

The Bees Go Buzzing
The bees go buzzing, one by one. Hurrah! Hurrah!
The bees go buzzing, one by one. Hurrah! Hurrah!
The bees go buzzing, one by one.
The little one stops to have some fun
And they all go flying high
in the sky to go back
to their hive! Bzzzz Bzzzz Bzzzz!
Repeat with ….
2 by 2… to sing a tune!
3 by 3… to scratch their knee!
4 by 4…to sing once more!
5 by 5… to exercise!

Felt: A Bee in the Bonnet

This is an adorable story I learned in grad school and now made a felt story of. It’s about a Cow, who has a new bonnet. One by one, her animal friends try it on before Cow can tell them her friend, Bee, is inside! You can also use a little bee puppet at the end to interact with cow.

Book: Thank You Bees by Toni Yuly