Honey: Extended activity ideas 7-11 years
Key info:
Activities
Here is a set of activities provided as an introduction to learning about honey. The intention is to inspire children to want to learn more about how honey gets from the hive to our plates. The activities can all be done independently - you can pick and choose whichever is most appropriate or interesting for your purposes.
- Use the ‘Photo Pack’ (Photo Pack_5-11_Honey_Intro) and ‘Glossary of Terms’ to support learning and teaching throughout.
- Ensure parental/guardian permission has been sought prior to the tasting of any foods, and that you are aware of any existing food allergies. Note: Honey in any form is not suitable for babies under one year; honey may contain spores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum which can lead to infant botulism. (Advice from The Food Standards Agency)
From the hive to you - How and why do bees make honey?
- Children should watch the honey related videos on the Eat Happy website before undertaking this activity.
- Referring to the research and learning the children have already done by watching the related videos on the Eat Happy website, talk about what they have learnt about how bees make honey.
- Use the explanation text ‘How Honey is Made (B)’ to revisit the different stages in the honey-making process. Share as a whole-class text or read together in groups. Use the accompanying questions as an aid to discussion.
Alternatively, you may wish to ask the children to re-read the text and answer the
accompanying questions independently or in pairs. Ask the children to complete the ‘Crossword’ .
- Ask the children to create their own crossword/quiz/board game based on how honey is made and any other honey bee/honey-related information discovered. Swap and complete crosswords/quizzes. You may wish
for them to use the ‘Glossary of Terms’ at this point for reference.
- Alternatively, ask the children in pairs to create their own glossary of bee/honey-related terms. Hold a Spelling Bee including these words.
Tasting honey!
- There are many different varieties of honey and these range greatly in taste and colour. Different nectars produce different honeys. Use the poster the colour of honey to show a very small fraction of the different coloured honeys available. Greek honey is dark in colour, whereas Acacia honey is lighter, for example.
- Taste some honey! Show the children a pot of honey. Talk about the name on the pot and the colour. You may wish to also mention different honeys using the ‘Glossary of Terms’, for example NPA (Non-Peroxide Activity) Manuka honeys, produced in New Zealand and Australia by bees which pollinate the manuka bush. Manuka honeys are dark in colour, and renowned for their anti-oxidant/antibacterial properties. Squeeze some honey into a dish for the children to sample (or let the children have a go at using a honey dipper or a spoon!). Give each child a new lolly stick to dip in and ask them to taste the honey. What do they think? Do they like/dislike it? Have they tasted honey before?
- Ask them to describe the honey in terms of taste (is it: mild, fairly mild, medium, fairly strong or strong?).
You may wish to use the ‘Honey Rating Guide for Taste’ as a prompt for discussion. See if you all agree/disagree on strength of taste. If you have access to several different varieties of honey, talk about the different shaped pots/squeeze bottle, the labels, the colour/names of the different honeys. Prepare samples of each variety and rate the honeys accordingly. Use the ‘Honey Rating Guide for Taste’ and ask the children in pairs or groups to place each label next to the side of each dish. Discuss findings. Is there a correlation between colour and taste? Darker honeys tend to be stronger in strength than lighter-coloured honeys.
- Ask them to describe the honey in terms of colour (is it: light, fairly light, medium, fairly dark or dark?).You may wish to use the ‘Honey Rating Guide for Taste’ as a prompt for discussion. If you have access to several different varieties of honey, sample and rate the honeys accordingly. Use the ‘Honey Rating Guide for Colour’ and ask the children in pairs or groups to place each label next to the side of each dish. Discuss findings. Is there a correlation between colour and taste?
- Undertake some basic market research into the class’ honey-eating habits! Research different varieties of honey and use as the basis of a questionnaire about who eats what honey, and how they like to eat it, e.g. on pancakes, in a sandwich (what with?), on meats like chicken and ham, or when baking, for example. Conduct some research and present back findings in as creative a way as possible, using graphs, images, presentation software etc.
- Alternatively, send home each child with the mini record card ‘Honey at Home’. Ask the children to look in their cupboards, and/or speak to friends and relatives about honey-eating habits. Children may wish to create their own ‘Honey at Home’ record cards to record additional information. Share findings with
the rest of the class.
- You may wish to suggest to the children that when they next go shopping with a parent/carer, they could note down the different honeys available and share findings with the rest of the class.
Honey through the ages
- Use the timeline photographs from ‘Honey through the Ages’ to provide a brief outline of honey throughout history. Ask the children to research other facts to add to the timeline.
- Alternatively, create your own class potted history of honey.
Bee a food scientist!
- Hold a Honey Bake-Off and judge the three most imaginative and/or delicious dishes in each class/year group. Repeat with different foods throughout the year. Award ‘H’I’ve Bee’n Busy!’ certificates for the best ones!
Print off the accompanying stickers onto self-adhesive sticker paper for all entrants.
- Try out different ways of using honey in recipes. Compile a class collection of honey recipes (home/internet/video clip/supermarket recipe cards/recipe books).
- Ask the children to make/create a honey dish at home and draw/take photos etc. to bring into school.
What else is manufactured using honey, or related products?
- Honey, and other products from bees, are used in lots of manufactured products, from face creams and lip balms to beeswax candles and royal jelly foam bath! You may wish to refer to the pictures in the Photo Pack by way of example.
- Ask the children to look out for products containing honey or honey-related products such as beeswax and royal jelly, and use to raise awareness/as the basis for a display. Tie in with designing and making three-dimensional packaging, e.g. design and make a box to hold a squeeze bottle of honey. Include an original brand name for your produce, a label for your bottle, a logo etc.
Supporting downloadable materials for this lesson plan are:
