Painted Rocks Easy Bee Craft for Kids

This spring, let your kids create this fun painted rocks Easy Bee Craft! There are so many ways you can use them in your preschool lessons!

As you begin preparing your bee activities for preschoolers, be sure to add in some craft time. These painted rocks are a lot of fun to make, and they’re very versatile. I’ll share many ways you can use these in your homeschool after the tutorial below.

Arts and crafts are a lot of fun when you can incorporate them into your everyday preschool lessons. And, because these painted rocks are so versatile, you’ll be wondering what to make next!

Easy Bee Craft

You only need a few simple supplies to get this craft up and going. And, it’s super easy to make. Either you can make these and use them as described below, or you can have your preschoolers make them.

What You’ll Need

river rocks | craft paint | pencil | paint brush

What You’ll Do

To make this project, you’ll need to gather the supplies listed above. Wash the stones you’ll be using to get rid of any dust or dirt that may be on them. Remember to leave 10-15 minutes between each step to allow the paint to dry well.

Choose a stone, and paint it with white acrylic paint. If one coat of paint doesn’t properly cover the stone, you can use another layer of paint after the first one dries.

Now, take some yellow acrylic paint, and paint two-thirds of the stone yellow.

Draw two symmetrical oval shapes on the white area for the bee’s eyes.

Leave those oval shapes white, but color the rest of the white area (the bee’s head) black.

Now take a thin paint brush, and paint thin stripes on the yellow (body) space of the stone. Keep even distance between all the lines, if possible.

Use black and blue paint to finish the eyes for the bee.

Finally, finish off your bee with white wings. If you paint them with thinned paint, you’ll be able to see through them.

Variations

If you use small river rocks, you can make bee counters. These can be used for filling in ten frames, counting, beginning addition and subtraction.

You can put magnets on the back of small river rocks to adhere artwork to the fridge.

Large river rock painted bees can be placed in flower pots or in the garden for decoration.

You can add them to your pretend play area where they can be used for acting bee stories.

PRESCHOOL BOOKS ABOUT BEES

Fill your book basket with a great collection of books about bees. Most of these books can be found at your local library or used bookstore.

If you have a hard time finding them, you can order them through my Amazon affiliate links by clicking the images below.

Bee & Me – A little girl befriends a bee that takes her on a journey of discovery, revealing an action that every child can take to aid in conservation.

The Honeybee Man – Every morning, Fred climbs three flights of stairs—up to his rooftop in Brooklyn, New York—and greets the members of his enormous family: “Good morning, my bees, my darlings!”

His honeybee workers are busy—they tend the hive, feed babies, and make wax rooms. They also forage in flowers abloom across Brooklyn… so that, one day, Fred can make his famous honey, something the entire neighborhood looks forward to tasting.

The Life and Times of the Honeybee – Why do beekeepers use smoke machines when collecting honey? Can a bee really sting only once? Why do bees “dance”?

In concise, detailed text and abundant illustrations that range from the humorous to the scientific, Charles Micucci offers a wide-ranging and spirited introduction to the life cycle, social organization, and history of one of the world’s most useful insects.

RESOURCES I LOVE

I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee! The sweetest kit for our youngest honeybees! This is the perfect introduction to sensory play dough for toddlers 12 months and up. Make a honey hive, explore patterns, and even teach the lifecycle of a honey bee using play dough. The possibilities are endless!

Let your kids play with honey bee slime that smells just like honey!