Save This Bee

Preschool children practice empathy through rescuing a pollinator

As we ate our picnic style lunch, a tired little bee landed upon one of the children’s lunch tray.  The bee looked like it was in rough shape, unable to stand and rolling onto it’s back. We asked the children what we should do for our new friend. “Give it a flower,” exclaimed one child, “Make it a home,” said another.

We have been talking about how our first flowers of Spring, including dandelions, are so important to the bees just waking up from their Winter rest. So, instead of picking the dandelion, the children brought the bee to the flower. They gathered stones to surround and protect the bee. They gathered fallen flowers from our peach tree and put water in a seashell in hopes of nourishing the bee. They even added a leaf umbrella to give the bee some shade.

After an hour or so we checked on our patient. The bee was crawling slowly around on the rocks. It stretched its wings and began to explore what the children had built, they were on their way to a miraculous full recovery!

This is a snapshot of empathy in action. Children have such big hearts and high hopes. By allowing them to brainstorm about what a living thing needs to survive and teaching them about the local ecosystem, they were able to make a plan for how to care for this bee. While we were unsure if we were saving it, or giving it a comfortable resting place;  the children did not care. They only wanted to care for this living creature that clearly needed their help.  We are so excited that this experience will help carry us into our next unit on conservation.

The bee looked like it was in rough shape, unable to stand and rolling onto it’s back. We asked the children what we should do for our new friend. “Give it a flower,” exclaimed one child, “Make it a home,” said another.

We have been talking about how our first flowers of Spring, including dandelions, are so important to the bees just waking up from their winter rest. So, instead of picking the dandelion, the children brought the bee to the flower. They gathered stones to surround and protect the bee. They gathered fallen flowers from our peach tree and put water in a seashell in hopes of nourishing the bee. They even added a leaf umbrella to give the bee some shade.

After an hour or so we checked on our patient. The bee was crawling slowly around on the rocks. It stretched its wings and began to explore what the children had built, they were on their way to a miraculous full recovery!

This is a snapshot of empathy in action. Children have such big hearts and high hopes. By allowing them to brainstorm about what a living thing needs to survive and teaching them about the local ecosystem, they were able to make a plan for how to care for this bee. While we were unsure if we were saving it, or giving it a comfortable resting place;  the children did not care. They only wanted to care for this living creature that clearly needed their help.  We are so excited that this experience will help carry us into our next unit on conservation.