SWEET LITTLE HONEY BEES! – Printmaking, Cutting, Gluing

Students learn about honey bees and the role they play in our environment. They use printmaking techniques to create a honeycomb, and then create little honey bees to glue onto it.

Required Time

60 Minutes

Grade Level

Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 1

Subject

Art Techniques
Language Arts
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies
Visual Arts

Vocabulary

bumble bee hive honey honey bee honeycomb paint pattern roll smooth texture

Materials

Crayola Yellow Washable Paint Crayola Black Construction Paper Crayola Yellow Construction Paper Crayola Glitter Glue Rolling Pin Bubble Wrap Paint Tray Crayola Sissors Crayola Glue Sticks Googly Eyes (small ones) Double-Sided Tape

Shop Crayola Products

Construction Paper, 120 Count
Washable Glitter Glue, 5 Count
Crayola Washable Paint, 4 Pack

Steps

SWEET LITTLE HONEY BEES! – Printmaking, Cutting, Gluing - Step One

Step One

Wrap a piece of bubble wrap around a rolling pin. Use the double-sided tape to tape the bubble wrap down.  Make sure the bubble side of the bubble wrap is facing up.

SWEET LITTLE HONEY BEES! – Printmaking, Cutting, Gluing - Step Two

Step Two

Pour yellow Crayola washable paint on either a cookie sheet or foam tray. You don't want too much paint on the tray. Use a paint brush to spread the paint around. Roll the rolling pin back and forth in the paint until the bubble wrap is completely covered with paint.  

SWEET LITTLE HONEY BEES! – Printmaking, Cutting, Gluing - Step Three

Step Three

Roll the rolling pin onto the paper. Continue rolling until you have covered the paper. This will represent the honeycomb for your bees!

SWEET LITTLE HONEY BEES! – Printmaking, Cutting, Gluing - Step Four

Step Four

Cut 2 circles out of black construction paper. Make one circle slightly bigger than the other. 

SWEET LITTLE HONEY BEES! – Printmaking, Cutting, Gluing - Step Five

Step Five

Glue the smaller circle onto the end of the larger cirlce to create a head on the body of the honey bee. Use yellow construction paper and googly eyes to add features to the honey bee. 

SWEET LITTLE HONEY BEES! – Printmaking, Cutting, Gluing - Step Six

Step Six

Use Crayola Glitter Glue to decorate your honey bees. 

 

SWEET LITTLE HONEY BEES! – Printmaking, Cutting, Gluing - Step Seven

Step Seven

Glue your bees to the honeycomb you created.

SWEET LITTLE HONEY BEES! – Printmaking, Cutting, Gluing - Step Eight

Step Eight

Glue your picture to a piece of black construction paper to give it a border.

Learning Goals

  1. Work independently and self-regulate;
  2. Share their ideas with peers;
  3. Create personal responses to the centre materials;
  4. Explore texture and pattern; and
  5. Develop an understanding of the importance of honey bees.

Extensions

  1. Reading Centre - Set out a variety of books about bees. For example,
    - What if There Were No Bees? by Suzanne Slade
    - The Life and Times of the Honeybee by Charles Micucci
    - In the Trees, Honey Bees! by Lori Mortensen
    - The Honey Makers by Gail Gibbons
  2. Science Centre - Set out models of bees, honeycombs and related materials along with magnifying glasses.
  3. Math Centre - Provide regular hexagon tracers for children to use with drawing tools to create patterns. Include photographs of honeycombs so they can compare their work with the honeycomb.
    - Start a honeycomb paper quilt taped to the wall, or glued to a large piece of mural paper - students cut out hexagons from paper they choose and add it to the quilt so it forms a honeycomb
  4. Sensory Centre - Provide different kinds of honey for children to taste. Include pictures of the kinds of flowers that honey bees might have visited to create each of the kinds of honey, e.g., clover, goldenrod, buckwheat. Include a checklist for comparison that provides a spot for such things as: 
    - colour (light or dark)
    - flavour (mild or strong)
    - rate (yes or no)
  5. Music - Honey Bee Song

Prepare

  1. Gather materials needed for the activity.
  2. Prior to introducing this activity allow children to explore with paint, bubble wrap and rolling pins.
    - Place out a variety of rolling pins, some with bubble wrap wrapped around them and some without.  
  3. Observe and question children as they work with the materials:
    - What happens when you roll the rolling pin onto paper with no bubble wrap? Creates a smooth yellow stripe.
    - What happens when you roll the rolling pin onto paper with bubble wrap? Creates a texture and pattern on the paper.
    - What does the bubble wrap pattern make you think of?
    - What happens if you use both rollers on the paper? 

Introduction

  1. During your read aloud time read some stories and poems related to honey bees. 
  2. After reading have an open discussion including such things as:
    - why we need bees
    - how honey bees are different than bumble bees
    - how honey is created
    - what a bee hive is
    - what a honeycomb is

Activities

The Challenge

  1. Children challenge themselves to use their imagination and problem-solving skills as they explore ideas in this activity.

The Process

  1. Demonstrate the steps outlined in this lesson plan.
  2. Encourage students to work freely and share ideas with each other.

Teacher Prompts:
- What did you enjoy about this activity?
- What else can we use the rolling pin with bubble wrap wrapped around it for?
- What else could we do with this art activity?

Sharing

  1. Have children share their art work with the class. 
  2. Allow children to ask the presenter questions. 
  3. Talk about the texture and pattern that was created. 
  4. Explain that texture is one of the elements of design.   

Downloads

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