Little Learners: Get Ready for World Bee Day!

World Bee Day is a wonderful opportunity for families and supervised children to get involved in something meaningful, fun, and full of learning opportunities.Little learners, get ready – it’s almost time to buzz into action for World Bee Day! The annual event arrives in May and it’s a brilliant opportunity for children and families to get involved in something meaningful, fun, and full of learning opportunities.

Bees are amazing little helpers, whether in gardens, parks or the countryside — but they need our help too! World Bee Day is a chance for children to discover the magic of these fascinating creatures, learn more about the natural world, and start to build early environmental awareness. They can get proactive too. Whether by planting wildflowers, spotting bees in the garden, or creating bee-inspired arts and crafts, even our tiniest learners can join in the buzz. Read on to learn more about this fun, educational, and hugely worthwhile event, which takes place each May.

World Bee Day

World Bee Day arrives on the 20th May every year.World Bee Day is celebrated every year on 20th May to raise awareness of the vital role that bees and other pollinators play in our world. From helping plants grow and supporting the food we eat every day, bees are some of nature’s hardest workers – and they need our help to survive and thrive.

People around the world mark the day by learning more about bees, planting flowers, protecting wild habitats, and sharing ways to care for the environment. Under appropriate supervision, there are lots of ways even the youngest children can join in too!

2025’s World Bee Day Theme:

2025’s World Bee Day theme is “Bee inspired by nature to nourish us all.”“Bee inspired by nature to nourish us all”

2025’s theme is all about how bees help feed the world, and how we can look after them by taking inspiration from nature. Without bees and pollinators, there would be no fruit, vegetables, crops, and nuts to keep us healthy. The message is simple: if we care for bees and their habitats, they’ll continue to care for us too by helping our plants grow and keeping the planet blooming.

Learn more about World Bee Day, its background and its aims here.

How World Bee Day Supports Early Years Learning

Getting involved in World Bee Day supports many areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and helps children learn and grow in meaningful, hands-on ways.Getting involved in World Bee Day isn’t just fun — it also supports many areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), helping children learn and grow in meaningful, hands-on ways. Here are just a few ways bee-related activities can support early development:

  • Understanding the World: Through bee-related activities, children will learn about living things, the environment, and how everything in nature is connected. Exploring bees and their role in pollination helps little learners begin to understand the world around them — and how they can help look after it.
  • Communication and Language: Talking about bees, asking questions, listening to stories and learning new words (like ‘pollination’, nectar’ and hive’) builds vocabulary and encourages curiosity.
  • Young girl making bee crafts.Expressive Arts and Design: Making bee crafts, drawing flowers, role-playing as working bees, or moving like insects in a dance — all help develop creativity and imagination.
  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Caring for nature supports empathy and kindness. Group activities like planting or creating a bee garden also build teamwork and a sense of shared responsibility.
  • Physical Development: Activities like planting seeds, cutting out bee shapes, or painting flower petals develop fine and gross motor skills through playful, purposeful movement.

In short, World Bee Day is a brilliant opportunity for young children to explore the wonders of the natural world in a way that supports their learning across multiple areas, is fun, and makes a difference!

Bee-Themed Activities for Under-Fives

There are so many fun and simple ways for little learners to join in with World Bee Day!There are so many fun and simple ways for little learners to join in with World Bee Day! Here are a few activities that are perfect for children under five — each one encourages creativity, curiosity, and care for nature while also supporting the EYFS.

Plant a Pollinator Patch

Children can help plant bee-friendly flowers such as lavender, sunflowers, or wildflowers in a pot, bed or border. This not only encourages responsibility and care as they water and watch the plants grow but also supports the EYFS’s Understanding the World, Personal, Social & Emotional Development, and Physical Development goals.

Make Buzzy Bee Crafts

Children can use materials like paper plates, cardboard tubes, egg cartons and recycled materials to create their own bees!Using paper plates, cardboard tubes, egg cartons or recycled materials, children can create their own bees! Add wings, stripes, googly eyes and antennae for a hands-on creative session. These are wonderfully creative activities that will boost several areas of the EYFS including Expressive Arts & Design and Physical Development.

Bee-Themed Storytime

Snuggle up with stories that introduce bees in a child-friendly way. Great choices include The Very Greedy Bee by Steve Smallman and Jack Tickle, Bee: Nature’s Tiny Miracle by Patricia Hegarty, and What if There Were No Bees? by Suzanne Slade. Even better, encourage children to create their own stories involving bees! After storytime, don’t forget to talk about what bees do with your child and ensure they understand why they’re important. These are great activities to boost the EYFS’s Communication & Language, Literacy and Understanding the World focus areas.

Sing and Dance Like a Bee

The Bee Waggle Dance (video).Do you or your child know about the bee Waggle Dance? It’s a real dance that honey bees do to communicate the direction, distance, and quality of a food source to the rest of the bee colony. Click the video thumbnail to learn more — it’s absolutely fascinating! It’s also a great piece of knowledge to inspire children to buzz around the room with bee-themed songs, dances, and movement games. What’s more, it will help children in their EYFS goals including Physical Development and Expressive Arts & Design.

Go Bee-Spotting

A bee-spotting activity is a great opportunity to explore areas of the EYFS that include Understanding the World and Communication & Language.Explore the garden or outdoor space and, without disturbing them, see what pollinators your child can spot. Can they see any bees? What colours and flowers do they seem to like best? Are they collecting nectar? What type of bees are they? Bumblebees are super cute. Honey bees are super-hard workers and do so much for the world. A bee-spotting activity is a great opportunity to explore areas of the EYFS that include Understanding the World and Communication & Language.

Honey Tasting and Talk

If age-appropriate (never feed to babies under 12 months) and there is no allergy to it, let children try a small taste of honey. Then talk about how bees make it, and discuss where it comes from. You could even take this a step further by helping your child make a simple honey-based snack. For example, honey drizzled over pancakes or porridge oats — delicious! Such activities can help children focus on EYFS areas including Understanding the World, Communication & Language, and Physical Development.

These activities are designed to feel like play but, underneath, they’re packed with learning opportunities. What’s more, they help children build positive associations with the natural world and start to understand that even small actions can make a big difference.

Let’s Celebrate Bees on World Bee Day

World Bee Day is a chance to slow down and take a closer look at the tiny creatures that do such big jobs for our planet. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to help young children connect with nature, ask questions, and start to develop a sense of care for the world around them. Through simple, enjoyable activities, families can help raise awareness of the challenges bees and other pollinators face — from habitat loss to climate change. It’ll show children that even small actions, like planting flowers or spotting bees in the garden, can make a difference. So, get them buzzing while they explore nature, grow in confidence and curiosity, and learn that they too can help protect bees along with the wonderful world they’re a part of.

Nursery Places in Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley

Little Acorns Nursery, Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley

Little Acorns Nursery is rated as a 'Good Provider' by Ofsted.With our own gardens and outdoor spaces close by, children have lots of opportunities to explore and learn from nature at Little Acorns Nursery in Clayton-le-Woods. We know just how important nature is to children and it’s one of the many reasons we love introducing them to nature-based events, themes, and activities like those suggested in today’s post.

At Little Acorns Nursery, children have a wonderful start in life in a warm, caring, home-from-home environment where they feel safe, nurtured, and valued. Free childcare is available for eligible children from just 9 months of age. If you’d like to explore the possibility of sending your baby, toddler, or preschool child under five to this wonderful nursery and preschool in Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley, get in touch today. We’d love to answer any questions, tell you more, and show you and your child around the setting.

Contact Little Acorns Nursery

Families living nearby in Clayton Brook, Clayton Green, Thorpe Green, Pippin Street, Buckshaw Village, Whittle-le-Woods, Farington, Bamber Bridge, Lostock Hall, Euxton, Leyland and Penwortham may also find our nursery conveniently close.

Wildlife-Friendly Flower Growing Fun for Under-Fives

This wildflower-growing activity gets children outdoors, closer to nature, as well as doing some good for conservation and wildlife.Today’s flower-growing children’s activity follows on nicely from last month’s butterfly-counting activity. Once again, it focuses on getting children outdoors, closer to nature, and doing some good for conservation and local wildlife — including butterflies. Also, as we know, outdoor play is important and getting closer to nature is hugely beneficial to children.

This time, it’s all about growing wildflowers that help to feed pollinators and encourage them to come to gardens, balconies, patios, plant pots, and window boxes where children live. As well as butterflies, the pollinators include bees, hoverflies, dragonflies, damselflies, and some non-flying insects like beetles. What’s more, you may well find that wildflowers attract birds and sometimes even bats too!

Pollinators are not only beautiful and adorable, but they’re essential for a healthy environment and to pollinate food crops. So, all in all, this is another hugely worthwhile activity for under-fives and older children to get involved in. It’s also great fun and educational. So, without further delay, here is our simple guide explaining how children and families can start growing wildlife-friendly flowers to support and attract these magical little creatures. Enjoy!

When Children Should Sow Wildflower Seeds

Wildflower seeds sown in March and April will generally flower in late spring/early summerIt’s possible to sow wildflower seeds from March right through to mid-October or, at a push, early November so long as snow or frost is not forecast. Those sown closer to March and April will generally flower in late spring/early summer. Those sown very late in the year will flower the following year, from spring onwards. Any sown up to and including the middle period, for example during July, should still flower in the same year — wildflowers usually bloom some 60 to 80 or so days later if they’re timed to grow in the same year as they’re sown.

While pollen from the flowers is the main source of food for pollinators, the actual leaves of some late-growing varieties of wildflower plants are also useful as a food source, for example, for caterpillars. These will appear from around September followed by a second generation that will appear in April/May of the following year.

Given all of the above, the main message about timing is for parents and caregivers to plan ahead and also read seed packets and instructions carefully before sowing. In this way, children will know when to expect to see the plants, flowers, and resulting wildlife. Once the flowers and creatures appear, it’s sure to delight children!

Where to Get Wildflower Seeds

There are several easy ways for children and families to source wildflower seeds.There are several ways for children and families to source wildflower seeds. The most obvious way is to buy them commercially, in seed packets. These are available from any number of different outlets including nurseries, supermarkets, wildlife/nature charities, and countless websites online (here’s a good example).

A potentially cheaper way is to scour the Internet for free wildflower seeds and you may have some luck. Timing is important because some of the free wildflower seed schemes are likely to be early in the year — March/April for example. Some environment-centric organisations and companies may also provide free packets of wildflower seeds if you simply cover the cost of postage.

The best and totally free way to get hold of wildflower seeds, however, is to keep your – and your little one’s – eyes open when you’re outdoors around nature and plants. If you time it right, you’ll spot the seed pods of naturally-occurring wildflowers and, so long as they’re ready to be harvested, you can save the seeds for your child to sow later. Perhaps use small paper envelopes, so you can write the name or description of the wildflower being saved. If children help with harvesting seeds, ensure you adhere to our health and safety guidelines at the end of this article.

What Flowers to Grow

There are several ways to decide which wildflowers to grow.

  • Look out for bee, butterfly, and pollinator-friendly wildflower seed packets if buying commercially.If you buy your child commercially-available wildflower seeds, the information on the packet will often say if the resulting flowers are bee-friendly, butterfly-friendly, good for pollinators, and so on. So, if you’re sourcing seeds that way, much of the decision-making criteria around which actual flowers to grow is made clear and therefore the choice is easy.
  • Additionally, of course, the visual appeal of any flower photographs on the packets will help you with your choice. You may like a mixture of colours, or perhaps you’d rather limit the colour palette to just one or two colours. Cornflowers are blue, for example, while poppies can be red, orange, or yellow, and so on. Choosing by colour also therefore makes selection easier and indeed your child will probably enjoy helping in the decision-making process. Prompting them to choose by colour and pollinator-friendliness will, however, also be educational for them, subtly teaching them the importance of helping wildlife and the environment through the power of their personal choices.
  • On the other hand, if you/your child want complete control over the exact species of wildflower you/they want to see growing, then some homework will be needed unless, of course, you are already knowledgeable. The RSPB’s article on growing wildlife-friendly flowers may be a useful place to start and lists several varieties along with details of their colours.

Where to Sow the Wildflower Seeds

By their very nature, wildflowers are not terribly picky about what type of soil they will grow in.By their very nature, wildflowers are generally not very picky in regard to the type of soil they are happy to grow in. Therefore you/your child will have a greater choice of where to sow the wildflower seeds. A fairly clear sunny area is good, whether that’s garden beds, flower pots, window boxes, grow bags on a balcony, or even the lawn itself if you want a wild ‘meadow’ type lawn. Whatever the choice, it’s best if it’s somewhere that won’t be disturbed by you/the family though, as you wouldn’t want the wildflowers trampled once they do arrive.

How Children Can Grow the Wildflowers

Before sowing the seeds, ensure that the soil is free of weeds. Your child may enjoy helping with the weeding process or, if you are using pots and starting from scratch, you can avoid the weeding stage by using peat-free compost afresh. Either way, the topmost layer of soil will need to be loosened and raked neatly so there is somewhere for the seeds to fall and eventually embed. Again, children may enjoy getting involved in this part. If using pots or containers, ensure water can drain at the bottom, so the earth or compost will not become waterlogged later on.

Children will love it when their seeds have sprouted flowers and pollinators like bees and butterflies come to visit.With regard to sowing the seeds, follow any seed-specific instructions on packets in relation to timing and spacing. If you’re using self-harvested seeds or there are no instructions, simply sprinkle the seeds so they’re spaced, fairly evenly, i.e. not too densely sown. This will avoid the wildflower plants having to compete with one another once they start growing. A tip is to sprinkle from a height as this will naturally scatter them more widely. Once scattered, your child can help* to pat the soil surface down, either by hand or using the back of a tool like a spade or a trowel, so that the seeds are secured in the soil. Children can even ‘walk’ them in if they prefer. Once complete, ensure that you/your child keep the soil damp over the coming weeks. The preparation stage really is as simple as that!

Enjoy the Magic of Nature!

Ensure children know that they have now started a natural chain reaction that will result first in tiny shoots, then plants, then later beautiful flowers along with all the visiting pollinators, insects, birds and maybe more.

Don’t forget; following the flowering stage, the wildflowers are likely to ‘seed’ themselves at the end of their flowering season. That’s unless, of course, you/your child harvest the seeds yourselves, ready to sow at a place of your choosing next time. Some varieties of wildflowers will also naturally regrow next year — those are called perennials. — in contrast to those that only live for one year, which are called annuals. That said, even annual plants may self-seed, so their offspring appear next time, and such is the circle of life.

Nature & Forest School at Little Acorns Nursery, Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley

An outstanding childcare provider

Little Acorns Nursery, Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley

We hope today’s nature-based activity gives children, whether under five or older, an enjoyable time while also learning and helping to nurture the natural world. Nature teaches children a huge amount and that’s one of the many reasons why Little Acorns is a Forest School setting.

Little Acorns Nursery is an outstanding nursery/preschool in Clayton-le-Woods and the winner of an important National Nursery award. These are some of the many reasons why Little Acorns Nursery represents the very best early years childcare and education for babies and children under five in Central Lancashire. We also support Government childcare funding schemes, making it easier to afford for eligible families. To register your child for a nursery/preschool place, ask a question, or arrange a free guided tour of the setting, please select an option below:

For those not actually living in Clayton-le-Woods itself, we may also be a suitable choice if you live or work in nearby towns and villages including Clayton Brook, Clayton Green, Thorpe Green, Pippin Street, Buckshaw Village, Whittle-le-Woods, Farington, Bamber Bridge, Lostock Hall, Euxton, Leyland and Penwortham.

* Health & Safety of Little Ones

Parents/caregivers should supervise and accompany children, especially the very young, at all times to ensure their safety and well-being. For example, special care should be given near hazards including garden ponds, trip hazards and unhygienic areas. Children should be taught good practices around hygiene and self-care including the avoidance of poisonous plants, care around unhygienic soil, non-ingestion of seeds, avoidance of germs and so on. Keeping hands and fingers away from faces during outdoor activities, perhaps even wearing protective gloves when touching natural things like earth and plants, and washing hands with soap and water after outdoor activities, are also good examples to set for children.