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Why Do We Need Bees? Playdate!

June 1, 2018 by Aliesha

Yesterday we hosted a bee themed playdate for a whole bunch of our little friends! I called it Why Do We Need Bees? because of this book with the same title!

I started off the playdate with a little education about bees. We talked about their life cycle, how they build hives, and how they make honey. We smelled beeswax and looked a a model of a cell from a beehive. We discussed the importance of bees in pollinating MUCH of the food we eat, and we did a little honeybee dance (to demonstrate how honey bees tell the other bees where to find flowers)!

I divided our large group into smaller groups so we could work through all the stations! The first station had TONS of awesome books to read (linked at the bottom of this post), some of which we own, and some of which I checked out from the library!

At station two, kids could look at the parts of a bee and label their own diagram, and study the model bee life cycle and label those stages on their paper too!

At station three, kids could do a fingerprint beehive painting, and paint a bee on blank paper as well! This station was super popular with our budding artists!

I loved decorating with some GORGEOUS bee printables from one of my favorite Etsy shops… linked at the bottom of the post!

At station four, we planted wildflower seeds! Kids took these home to plant in their own yard so the bees would have new flowers to visit!

Station five might have been the most popular… honey tasting!! We had three varieties to sample… clover honey, lime honey, and raspberry honey! The kids loved trying them all and making notes about them!

After everyone went through all the stations, we had snack time! I made a Honey Bear Mix with Teddy Grahams and Honeycomb cereal.

We also had veggies and Greek yogurt dip… because we have bees to thank for so much of our vegetable harvest!

I also made Honeycomb cereal bars (exactly like Rice Krispy treats except with Honeycomb cereal)!

So glad we could spend this fun time with our friends and learn so much at our bee themed playdate!

Sources – Books

Why Do We Need Bees?

Bees & Wasps

Bug Hotel

1000 Things in Nature

Hello, Baby Buzz Buzz

How Do Flowers Grow?

Peek Inside the Garden

Pocket Books: Insects

Brilliant Bees

The Big Book of Bugs

The Life and Times of the Honeybee

The Honeybee Man

Firefly Encyclopedia of Animals

Small Wonders

Peterson’s Guide to Insects

Nature Anatomy

Sources – Other

A Collection of Bees (cards)

Parts of a Bee (printable poster)

Types of Bees (printable poster)

Bee Life Cycle Model

Magnifying Glass

For more ideas for your bee and insect-loving kiddos, visit this post!

This post contains affiliate links and/or links to my Online Bookstore with Usborne Books & More. ALIESHA CALDWELL IS A PARTICIPANT IN THE AMAZON SERVICES LLC ASSOCIATES PROGRAM, AN AFFILIATE ADVERTISING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A MEANS FOR SITES TO EARN ADVERTISING FEES BY ADVERTISING AND LINKING TO AMAZON.COM.

Spring Break 2017 Recap

April 20, 2017 by Aliesha

Last week we took the week off for spring break, as so many other did! We had a wonderful, jam-packed week and made so many fun memories together (and with friends and family)! This week we’ve been catching up on sleep and laundry, since we ran so hard last week!

Saturday

We kicked off our break by meeting my family at a park in between our houses. It was a gorgeous day to be outside, and we happened to be there while an agriculture event was going on, so we ended up getting free swag bags, barbecue sandwiches, and ice cream!

Monday

On Monday morning, Tad’s mom surprised the kids at breakfast! She spent the day with us and we mostly played outside! Of course we got some reading in before nap-time as well.

Tuesday

On Tuesday we went to the bird zoo that is pretty close to our house! We love going there every spring, and it’s fun to see how the kids have grown in their bravery holding the birds and feeding them!

Theodore was delighted.

Tuesday evening at our small group we dyed Easter eggs!

Wednesday

Wednesday we went to the park with friends after picking up drinks (just for mom & dad!) at our favorite coffee shop downtown!

After playing a while, we had a picnic lunch. This was probably the hottest day of the week, and we really could have gone to the beach!

Thursday

Our friends the Woods were in NC for their spring break, so we got to go visit Travis and Andrea on Travis’ dad’s strawberry farm! The kids adored riding on the golf cart with their boys!

Riding between the blueberry bushes.

All our kids!

The grown ups!

Theodore had the BEST time eating his body weight in strawberries! He can’t get enough of them!

Friday

On Friday we decided to drive to New Bern, one of our favorite places to visit on a day trip. We started out at a fun wooden playground where the kids could explore, play hide-and-seek, and make new friends!

It was really warm that day as well!

We packed a picnic lunch and headed down by the water to eat in the shade of a tree.

Sweet kiddos! Vera said that this was the only picnic this week that “counted” since it was the only one we ate on a blanket (all the others were at picnic tables)!

Well, no question now if I look pregnant or not! Ha!

We got ice cream before heading home!

That night was also our Good Friday service at church, which was wonderful! It’s one of my favorite church services all year.

Saturday

Saturday was our church’s annual Easter Pig Pickin’! In addition to eating great food together, the kids enjoyed sidewalk chalk, bubbles, a bounce house, and an egg hunt, while the adults enjoyed corn hole, volleyball, basketball, and more.

The egg hunt was an indoor balloon egg hunt, which was so much fun! Theodore was more interested in the balloons than in the eggs, and the girls enjoyed helping pop all the balloons at the end!