Bees, Butterflies, and Flowers, oh my! (Pollination Science)
- Amy Wung Tsao
- May 20
- 5 min read
Pollination science for preschool, kindergarten, first and second grade
Quick links if you're too busy to scroll:
Pollination Science Videos:
Flowers and Their Pollinators from SciShow Kids
Bees and Beekeeping from Ranger Zak
How Pollination Works from the Cincinnati Nature Channel
Pollination Science Books:
Bee Dance by Rick Chrustowski
Handle With Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey by Loree Griffin Burns, photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz
Flower Talk by Sara Levin, illustrations by Masha D’Yans
Pollination Science Experiments and Activities:
Identify flowers and pollinators with Seek from iNaturalist
“Pollen” Chalk Painting from Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
Build a Beehouse! from Scishow Kids
Keep reading to learn more about how to use these pollinator science videos, books, and activities to maximize the science and fun!
Pollinator Science (for spring & allergy season!)
“We owe the bees. Act accordingly”
~ zoologist Lars Chittka
Spring is here, and my kids are chasing butterflies in the neighborhood. Kids are just naturally drawn to bees, butterflies, and flowers!
You can absolutely jump on this natural curiosity and see what questions your little scientists have. Maybe they’re asking - Where do the bees and butterflies all come from? What are they doing with all those flowers?
And when they’re wound up with all their questions, these pollination science books, videos, and activities will help them discover those answers and more.
If you’re a parent, I’ve got fun stuff for you to tag onto a nature walk!
If you’re a teacher, pollination science is a great topic for teaching interdependent relationships in ecosystems (NGSS K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-2, K-ESS3-1, K-ESS3-3, 3-LS4-3). And a lot of these resources support NGSS core idea LS1.A: Structure and Function.
And all of these pollination books, videos, and activities are a great way to celebrate Pollinator Week, coming up on June 16-22, 2025!
(Just a reminder - I am never paid to mention any of these resources; there are no affiliate links.)
Pollination Science Videos
from SciShow Kids
This quick 5 minute video introduces how pollinators and flowers both benefit from each other. (That’s NGSS curriculum standard K-LS1-1 for you teachers out there!)
A lot of this video is also about how pollinators have special body parts that allow them to reach the flower nectar. Check out the incredibly long tongue of a tube lipped bat! (Teachers, this discussion on pollinator body structures also supports NGSS 1-LS1-1.)
If you loved this video, this 20 minute SciShow Kids video goes even deeper into the world of bees, flower parts, how flowers attract pollinators, and how those flowers become the fruit we eat!
Bees and Beekeeping from Ranger Zak
Meet kid beekeepers Gavin and Grady, and see some amazing up-close video of bee eggs, larvae, and babies! Ranger Zak is a real life park ranger who loves to get a little silly with kids, but it’s all in the service of learning about nature. (Teachers, all this talk about beehives supports NGSS 3-LS2-1 and 3-LS4-3.)
Quick warning - this video does explain that bees make honey by “throwing it up.” If that fact is going to throw off a sensitive eater, maybe skip this one!
If you loved this, Ranger Zak has another episode about other pollinators like butterflies. Ranger Zak’s got a really kid-friendly sense of humor, getting silly like putting his feet into a fruit salad to “taste” like a butterfly.
How Pollination Works from the Cincinnati Nature Channel
This one is for the diehard flower fans out there! Tess from the Cincinnati Nature Center has a giant flower statue to show the parts of a flower in detail, and how those flower parts interact with a bee. Watching this was like taking a mini field trip to the science museum. This video could even inspire some fun flower dissections.
Pollination Science Books
Bee Dance by Rick Chrustowski
Have you ever heard that bees “dance” to give other bees directions to find the best flowers? Well this book really brings that dry scientific fact to life!
This book is great for preschoolers to see up-close illustrations of their buzzy friends, and it’s great for older kids too who can really appreciate the details of how the bee dance works as communication! Of course kids and adults any age can get up and do a little bee dance themselves. (Teachers, use this book to support NGSS K-LS1-1, 1-LS1-2, 3-LS2-1, and 4-LS1-1!)
Handle With Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey by Loree Griffin Burns, photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz
I can’t say enough about the photographs in this book! The rows and rows of chrysalises of all shapes and colors, looking like little bits of candy or jewels! Not only do you get to see the fascinating mechanics of running a butterfly farm, but you get up close magical photos of caterpillars transforming into butterflies. If you’ve ever visited a butterfly habitat at the zoo or the museum and wondered where they all come from, this is a must read.
(Teachers, the work described on the butterfly farm supports K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-2, and K-ESS3-1.)
Flower Talk by Sara Levin, illustrations by Masha D’Yans
This slightly cranky cactus needs humans to know that roses aren’t red because they symbolize love. Flower colors are for pollinators, not people! Red flowers, for example, are red to attract birds. I love when a kid’s book teaches me, the grown up with a Ph.D., something I didn’t know before!
(Teachers - seeing how the flower shapes and colors match the pollinator body shapes supports science curriculum standards on interdependent relationships NGSS K-LS1-1 and 3-LS4-3, as well as structure and function NGSS 1-LS1-1.)
This book is definitely longer than the books above, so I would save this for 1st grade kids or older.
Pollination Science Activities and Experiments
Take a pollinator nature walk with your nature journal and the Seek app!
Take the kids on a nature walk and let them journal about all the flowers and pollinators they see. Start to wonder out loud about which flower shapes or colors the bees like best, and which flowers the butterflies like best.
I love whipping out the Seek app on my phone to easily identify plants, insects, and animals on our nature walks. It’s easiest with plants, since they stay still while you move your camera around it until the app has enough visual information to identify the species. But you might be able to use it on a pollinator that’s landed on a flower!
(Teachers, your students’ observations support K-LS1-1 and 3-LS4-3.)
Make “Pollen” Chalk Art from the Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History
This STEAM activity is part chalk art and part scientific model! All you need is two different colors of chalk and a cotton ball. Draw different color chalk flowers, and then use the cotton balls as your pollinator, feeding from both color flowers. Notice how your pollinator picks up the “pollen” as it feeds!
If you’re a teacher and going outside won’t work for your class, you can try this activity with paint on paper and cotton balls. Or here’s another indoor classroom activity that uses Cheetos as the “pollen”.
(Teachers, all of these pollination models support K-ESS3-1.)
Build a Beehouse! from Scishow Kids
Ready to go beyond learning about pollinators to helping pollinators? All you need is a tin can, 2 toilet paper rolls, paper and glue. This activity is to build a beehouse for mason bees, which do not typically sting like other bee species do. Building pollinator homes is good for the environment, and supports K-ESS3-3 in your science curriculum!
I hope you found something to spark curiosity about bees, butterflies, flowers and pollination science!
If you want more kid science that gets them outdoors, check out this post!
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Keep lighting sparks of curiosity,
Amy Wung Tsao
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