Happy Friday Everybody!

Here's Miss Storey to start the day!

Haydn Arts Week - Bees

This week we have been celebrating Arts Week in school and were about to create a giant snail in our nursery garden! We can still celebrate even though we're at home! Let's think about a different minibeast today. It's one of my favourites and I wonder if you can guess what it is? Here are some clues:

• I am an insect and I can fly.
• I am furry and stripy, a bit like a tiger!
• I buzz around your garden collecting pollen and nectar.

Have you guessed? Yes it's a bumblebee! I love bumblebees and they are one of the most important creatures on the planet! Bees pollinate trees, flowers, fruit and vegetables. In fact, they pollinate about one third of the world's crops that the farmers grow! So you can thank bees for your fruit and vegetables. 

Pollinate - that's a new word! Shall we find out what it means? Here's a video for you to watch that will help to explain! 

So there are different kinds of bees. There are bees that live in family groups like honey bees and bumblebees but most of the bees live on their own and are called solitary bees. Sometimes people get a bit mixed up when they see bees.

• Bumblebees are fat and furry. 
• Honey bees are smaller and slimmer and look more like a slightly hairy wasp.

Look at this activity sheet from The Bumblebee Conservation Trust to find out more about the differences.

 Let's start with a story. It's called 

The Boy Who Lost His Bumble 

and it's written and illustrated by Trudi Esberger. The boy in this book is fascinated by bumblebees. That means he watches them, makes friends with them, gives them names and keeps a notebook about what they look like and what they do. One rainy day when winter arrives they disappear and this makes him very sad. Why have they gone and what can he do to get his bumble back?

Find a cosy place to sit and listen to this lovely story.

Talking Together

• Did you enjoy that story? Let's remember what happened together.
• What did the little boy in the story love most of all?
• What did he write in his notebook?
• When did the bees disappear?
• Why do you think this happened?
• Where did the bees go? If you've read the information at the end of the story this will help you answer this question.
• When did the boy begin to feel happy again?
• What helped him to get his bumble back? What do you think 'his bumble' means?
•  

Now we know a little more about bees, let's do some exciting arts-based activities all about bees!

Dance

Honey bees do a special dance to tell other bees in their hive where to find flowers for food. It's called the Waggle Dance. Why don't you go into your garden, find a flower and then do a dance for your grown-up to tell them how to find the flower.

Or maybe you could do a dance about your favourite food and see if someone can work out what it is?

Music

Listen to this piece of music by Rimsky-Korsakov called The Flight of the Bumblebee.

I wonder what the bumblebee is doing in the music? Draw a picture of how you think it is flying around the garden whilst you listen to the music.

If you get a comb and a piece of tissue paper, you can make your own noise like a bumblebee! Or you can practise making the sound by making a zzzzz sound through your teeth! You can play along to the music or even make up your own music.

Did you know that bumblebees used to be called humblebees because of the humming sound they make?

Painting and Drawing

Make your own bumblebee finger painting
Bumblebees are perfect finger print shapes. Why not make a beautiful painting of a garden full
of flowers and bumblebees using your fingers.

What you will need:
Poster paint (yellow is a must but you can use any other colours for the flowers)
Coloured pencils or pens
Paper
Your fingers

Bee Hand Print

Stone or Rock Painting

Find a large stone in your garden or in the park. Paint your stone yellow first and leave it to dry before painting the black stripes. Here's a picture of one to inspire you!

You could make your own stone flowers for your bees too!

Playdough 

You could make your own playdough bees and create a garden for them to buzz around in. Make a garden and flowers for them to collect pollen and nectar from.

Homes for Bees

Where do bumblebees live?
Bumblebee queens have two homes. In autumn and winter queen bumblebees sleep by themselves in small holes under the ground, in compost heaps or in flower pots. This is called hibernation. Then, from spring until the end of summer the queen lives in a nest with her daughters. Sometimes there can be up to 400 bumblebees living in the same nest!

You can help bumblebees to nest in your garden by planting lots of flowers. 

Many bees are solitary. This means they live by themselves and not in a family nest. Mason bees and leafcutter bees benefit from bee hotels that you can make for them. Here are some simple ideas.

Have a bee-autiful weekend with your families! Try to keep busy and active as well as being helpful and kind!