Welcome to our “It’s a Sweet Life – Candy Week” – an at home camp filled with days of relaxed learning and fun activities all themed to the oh-so-fun sweets and treats! After all, what better way to get them to keep learning than to pick something they LOVE – sugar and sweets!
For this day, we turned our attention to a sticky favorite – honey! We dove a bit deeper into honeybees and how honey is made! Read on to check out a fun filled day of learning, reading, crafts, and activities all on honey!
A TYPICAL DAY
All kids are different and you can definitely vary your day with whatever works for you 🙂 Our relaxed & learning fun day kicks off with an introduction to the day’s theme. Then, we move onto videos and themed activities (reading, writing – or story telling – time, crafts, food crafts/snacks, and games or experiments). Feel free to pick and choose whatever works for you 🙂
INTRO
If your little one has seen a very famous cartoon bear, then they’re very likely familiar with this sticky, yummy treat (even if they haven’t tried it yet). If not – or if you just want a honey fact refresher, check out the links below. They’re perfect for providing a brief intro for your little ones (or to gather up some knowledge as well!)!
- Honeybee by National Geographic
- Honey Facts for Kids by Kiddle
- Honey by Britannica Kids
- 25 Facts About Honey by Buzz About Bees
AND these few links are great websites with tons of resources:
- Honey for Teachers: Free-Bee Lessons for Educators by Nature Nates Honey Company
- Bee Activities & Resources by Whole Kids Foundation
WHAT TO WATCH
We find that mixing in a short video themed to our day is a great way to add some learning fun! We try to pick informative videos OR mix in a cartoon favorite (where they don’t even realize they’re learning). Below are some of the videos we picked from for the day:
- How Do Bees Make Honey? | The Science of Food! | SciShow Kids by SciShow Kids (6m)
- Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt by Niagara Falls Museums (57m)
FOOD CRAFTS / SNACKS
What’s more fun than taking a break and having a simple snack??? Including the snack in your theme of the day! We find that our kiddos are more than happy to eat the snacks they create especially when they can arrange them into fun shapes and scenes!
If you’re looking for a fun experiment, we’ve done this one for our Fun with Flower Power Week and it was a great success:
Otherwise, there are lots of different foods made with honey or honey-flavored:
- Honey Graham Crackers
- Honey Bunches of Oats
- Oats & Honey Granola Bars
READING
It’s no secret that reading is an important part of learning, which is why we pick out a handful of books that are fun and filled with some learning tidbits. For our older ones, we have them fill out some worksheets (or let them create some of their own comics) to describe what they read and/or learned! These are a few we picked from for the day:
- National Geographic Readers: Bees
- The Secret Life of Bees: Meet the bees of the world, with Buzzwing the honey bee by Moira Butterfield
WRITING & WRITING PROMPTS
Just like reading, writing is a great way to keep kids learning by both encouraging their creativity and thought process as well as helping them practice their motor skills and penmanship.
If you’ve got a little one, have them trace words related to the theme: SUGAR, SWEETS, CANDY, HONEY, HONEY BEES, HONEYCOMB
If you’ve got older children, have them write a sentence or two up to a page or two (depending on their age). Encourage them to be creative AND give reasons for why they made certain choices. This was our writing prompt of the day (and we offered up some examples as well) but definitely pick something your kiddo might be interested in writing about!
- Imagine you were a honey bee, what would your job be?
- Honey is an ingredient in many types of foods. How many foods do you eat that have honey in them?
CREATE & CRAFT
If you’ve got a crafty little one, a simple craft is a great way to keep them interested in the topic. While their creative juices are flowing, you can also chat about what they’ve learned so far or ask them what else they’re excited about learning! Below are some of the crafts we looked at:
- Color Your Own Bee Plant Stakes
- DIY How bees make honey school project || DIY school project ideas (6m) by Just FUNtastic
- Awesome Recycled Bee Craft by I Heart Crafty Things
STEM & STEAM ACTIVITIES
While crafting and writing get their creativity and imagination flowing, we also like to add in an activity that gets them thinking along the lines of science, technology, engineering, or math! These engaging activities or experiments are a great way to keep them learning!
- Bee Activities by Whole Kids Foundation – Towards the middle there is a Guide to STEM Investigations for the Hive
- STEM & Maker Activity 34 – Honeycomb Math by Discovery K12 Homeschool
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for checking out our at home learning fun article! If you enjoyed this post, please let us know what you think in the comments below and/or follow us on Pinterest.
Also, if you haven’t already, check out some of our other Candy Week days, Sweets & Treats Ideas, as well as our DIY At Home Camps!
Happy Learning!
