CORVALLIS, Ore. — Three familiar bees — honeybee, bumblebee and metallic — perch on a bright sunflower on the cover of Explore the Bees of Oregon, a new activity booklet from the Oregon State University Extension Service.
Inside, kids, families and classrooms will find games, recipes and coloring pages that explain the essential role bees play in food and agriculture.
"Once people start learning about all the things bees do, they start asking more and more questions. That leads them to having a new understanding of the natural world.”
“The first thing is that it’s nicely laid out,” said Andony Melathopoulos, Extension pollinator specialist and assistant professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences. “There are the coloring pages, a word finder, trading cards and recipes. It’s like a Swiss Army knife. It has so many entry points.”
The booklet was conceived by Sarah Kincaid, then an entomologist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture and now a faculty research assistant for OSU Extension’s Pollinator Health Program and education coordinator for the Oregon Bee Atlas and Master Melittologist program.
To bring the idea to life, Melathopoulos collaborated with Food Hero, an Extension program that promotes healthy eating by encouraging Oregonians to grow and eat fruits and vegetables.
“It was a perfect fit,” said Lauren Tobey, Food Hero coordinator and nutrition educator with the Oregon SNAP-Ed program. “Our goal is to find different ways to get Oregonians engaged in growing and eating fruits and vegetables. Not only does this activity book do that, but it also teaches them about the importance of pollinator health.”
Hundreds of printed copies were distributed to Oregon teachers, and the booklet is also available on the Food Hero website.
What’s inside
Explore the Bees of Oregon combines science with creative activities. Eight full-page illustrations of native bees double as coloring pages and include “Field Notes” with fun facts. For example, leafcutter bees cut small pieces of leaves to build their nests, while long-horned bees only pollinate plants in the sunflower family.
Each bee illustration is paired with a Food Hero recipe featuring crops pollinated by that bee:
- Cherry Crumble with fruit pollinated by mason bees
- Healthy Carrot Cake Cookies with seed pollinated by honeybees
- Herbal tea made with plants pollinated by green metallic sweat bees
The booklet also includes lessons on pollination, how honey is made, the parts of a bee and how to be kind to bees. Eight trading cards, tucked into the pages, feature bee photos and facts that can be swapped, used as bookmarks or taken on a nature walk.
Inspiring curiosity, not fear
One common concern, Melathopoulos said, is that kids are afraid of bees because of past stings. But the activity book helps shift that perspective.
“It’s the entryway of how people drop their fear and learn how to explore them,” he said. “The book isn’t a cartoon. It has pictures of actual insects people can see. After they read the book, they then go out and find the best way to engage with bees — and usually they engage by observing.”
Kincaid said she hopes that kind of curiosity will stick.
“For me, one of my favorite things in life is to get everyone excited about the natural world around them,” she said. “Bees are a perfect vehicle. They’re so charismatic and do such cool things. Once people start learning about all the things bees do, they start asking more and more questions. That leads them to having a new understanding of the natural world.”
Previously titled Extension activity book ‘a perfect fit’ for nexus of pollinator, nutrition education
