Bees

Ideas for introducing the theme:

• Wear a big sun hat with netting over it, to be a beekeeper.
• Bring in some beeswax candles.
• Bring in some honey.
• Ask who had breakfast, who had toast, who had honey on the toast. Ask if they know where honey comes from.
• Use the following song, and ask the children if they can guess what the theme is:

Do You Like To Buzz?
(Tune: Do Your Ears Hang Low)
Author Unknown

Do you like to buzz?
Are you covered all in fuzz?
Do you call a hive a home
In the garden where you roam?
Do you know how to make honey?
Are your stripes a little funny?
Do you like to buzz?

Stories:

1. Willbee the Bumblebee; by Craig Smith and Maureen Thomson; illustrated by Katz Cowley; c. 2010

Willbee's black and yellow jumper unravels, and he loses his buzz when he realises his bare bum is showing. Monica the butterfly gathers the wool and enlists the aid of a spider in restoring Willbee's jumper.

2. The Beeman; by Laurie Krebs, illustrated by Melissa Iwai; c. 2002

A young girl's grandfather is known as the Beeman, and she tells us a bit about beekeepers and harvesting honey.

3. Where is your honey pot, Bear?;by Garry Fleming; c. 2011

A very simple tale of looking for the honey pot. One sentence per page, with simple pictures. Perfect for a younger group, and great for audience participation.

Also recommended:

1. Flight of the bumblebee; by Hazel Edwards, illustrated by Mini Goss; c. 2009
2. The grumblebee; by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Ingrid Berzins, c. 2011
3. The very greedy bee; by Steve Smallman, illustrated by Jack Tickle; c. 2010
4. Buzz; by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Vincent Nguyen; c. 2010

Finger rhymes:

Two Big Beehives
Author Unknown

Two big beehives (Hold out two fists.)
Closed up tight,
Protecting sleeping bees (Rest head on hands.)
All through the night.

When the morning sun (Make circle with arms over head.)
Shows its light,
Ten little bees (Hold out two fists.)
Take to flight. (Open fists and wiggle fingers away.)

Here is the Beehive

Author unknown

Here is the beehive (make fist)

Where are the bees? (shrug)

Hiding away, where nobody sees

Watch them come creeping out of the hive

One, two, three, four five (pull out fingers, one by one)

One, two, three, four five

Action songs:
Bumblebee on my nose
(Tune: Jingle Bells)

Author unknown

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,
He lands and then he goes.

Two Little Bees

(Tune: My Old Man’s a Dustman)

Author unknown

Two little bees in the garden (hold up one finger on each hand)

Making honey for the hive

One little bee says to the other little bee (wave one finger at the other)

Is your pom-pom bigger than mine? (wiggle your hips on “pom-pom”)

Is your pom-pom (wiggle your hips)

Is your pom-pom (wiggle your hips)

Is your pom-pom (wiggle your hips) bigger than mine?

Said one little bee to the other little bee

Is your pom-pom bigger than mine? (wiggle your hips on “pom-pom”)

Baby Bumblebee

Author unknown

I'm bringing home my baby bumble bee  (cup hands)

Won't my mummy be so proud of me

I'm bringing home my baby bumble bee

Ooh it stung me! (shake hand)

I'm squishing up my baby bumble bee (squish hands together)

Won't my mummy be so proud of me

I'm squishing up my baby bumble bee

Eww it's sticky!  (make sticky finger motions)

I'm licking up my baby bumble bee (pretend to lick hand)

Won't my mummy be so proud of me

I'm licking up my baby bumble bee

Ergh needs salt! (pull a face)

I’m throwing up my baby bumble bee (pretend to vomit)

Won’t my mummy be so proud of me

I’m throwing up my baby bumble bee

Oh no! I made a mess! (look at mess)

I’m mopping up my baby bumble bee (pretend to mop)

Won’t my mummy be so proud of me

I’m mopping up my baby bumble bee

There! It’s all clean. (look happy)

I'm bringing home my baby dinosaur (pretend to drag something heavy)

Won't my mummy hide behind the door

I'm bringing home my baby dinosaur

Ooh it stepped on me! (fall down)

Early literacy notes:

Bee puppets are a great way to increase interest in the rhymes and finger plays.

Craft

Requirements:

Egg cartons (two bumps)

Paper, such as tissue paper or crepe paper, cut into strips

Pipe cleaners (one each)

Pencils/crayons/textas to decorate

Steps:

Decorate the body of the bee.

Twist two paper strips together to create wings, and glue in between the two bumps of the body.

Bend pipe cleaner in half, curling the ends if you wish. Either glue onto head, or poke into the top of it, to create antennae.

Alternate craft

Requirements:

Wooden peg

Paper, such as tissue paper, crepe paper, or cellophane, cut into strips (two each looks good)

Pipe cleaner

Crayons to decorate

Steps:

1.     Use crayons to decorate the body of the bee.

2.     Twist paper in the centre, or you can squish it a bit after the wings are in place. Slide paper up the centre of peg, to create the wings.

3.     Wrap the pipe cleaner around the head of the wooden peg, to create antennae, curling the ends if you wish.

Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

Welcome!

We'd like to share our ideas for great storytimes with you. Just click on a theme to find great books that work well with 3-5 year olds, finger rhymes, songs, games and craft ideas. Have fun!