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Earlier this week, I posted a variety of fun activities you can share with your residents during Wiggle Your Toes Day. Today we’ll look at another little-known holiday coming up in August: World Honeybee Day.
Beginning in 2009, we’ve celebrated this special day that promotes awareness of the importance of honeybees. Since it’s observed on the third Saturday in August, that means it falls on August 18 this year. So it’s time to prepare your activities!
Share A Movie
If you have a childcare center at your nursing home, invite the kids to join the residents to watch the classic movie “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree”. Who doesn’t love Winnie the Pooh!
Enjoy A Book
Kids and residents will also enjoy reading books together. These are a few terrific books about bees:
Honey by David Ezra Stein
In the Trees, Honeybees by Lori Mortensen
Are You A Bee? by Judy Allen & Tudor Humphries
How Bees Make Honey by Louise Spilsbury
The Honey Makers by Gail Gibbons
Learn The Waggle Dance
When a worker bee returns from scouting for flowers, they communicate their findings to the other bees. They do this through what has been coined the Waggle Dance. I think this communication system is fascinating! Here’s a video from PBS that you can share with your residents.
Taste Different Types Of Honey
Did you know that there are over 300 different types of honey? You can find flavors ranging from alfalfa to dandelion to orange blossom.
Pick up several varieties and ask your residents to vote on their favorites. You can serve the honey on those tiny spoons that ice cream shops use to give out samples.
Include The Staff
Encourage residents and caregivers to dress up in honeybee outfits. They don’t need to be elaborate; you can find hundreds of creative ideas on Pinterest.
Ask residents to vote for their favorite costumes. Offer honey-related prizes to the winners such as a beeswax candle, a jar of gourmet honey, or hand lotion made from royal jelly.
Enjoy Bee Trivia
Did you know that honeybees never sleep? You’ll find lots of other fascinating bee facts on this beekeeper site.
Host A Guest Speaker
If you have beekeepers in your area, invite one in to talk with your residents about honeybees. There are oodles of informative topics they can cover:
- How bees are raised
- Types of bees
- How honey is produced
- Staying safe around bees
- Products made from honey
- Environmental concerns affecting bees
Have you ever celebrated World Honeybee Day? I would love to have you share your ideas in the comment section.
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