3 Free Bee Word Search Printables

Students will be positively buzzing as they search for bee words in these fun bee word search puzzles –  the free, download includes three different levels so everyone can engage and learn. And two of the word searches include a special word search challenge, inviting students to fill in the missing words in a list of bee facts in order to reveal the words to find in the word search grid!

Bee Word Search

Great for engaging students with World Bee Day, Earth Day or your classroom science program, this teacher-made series of Bee Word Searches engages children with relevant vocabulary related to these valuable insects. And, the challenge level word searches provide an additional layer of learning.

These puzzles can be used as research prompts to learn more about bees (at the beginning of your unit of study) or as an opportunity for children to show what they have learned about bees (if used at the conclusion of the unit study).

What is World Bee Day?

With more than 20,000 identified bee species in the world, and the importance of bees to the world’s environment – not least to the production of both food and oxygen – bees are kind of a big deal! World Bee Day was initiated on May 20th, 2017 by the United Nations as a means of raising awareness of the significant contribution that bees make to the world. It is now celebrated on May 20 each year.

These bee word search puzzles are a fun activity to include in your plans for World Bee Day with school age children. They also tie in nicely with Earth Day celebrations, or an Environmental Science unit.

What’s the big deal about bees?
In one word – pollination. Bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers. Nectar and pollen are food sources for bees. As bees move from flower to flower collecting the nectar and pollen that they need, they transfer pollen from plant to plant and enable pollination.

When animals and insects pick up the pollen of flowers and spread them to other flowers, they enable the plant to reproduce. Importantly to humans, this includes many food crops and trees for oxygen production. When pollination occurs, the fertilized flowers of the plant enable it to reproduce or form fruit. Whilst other animals, including birds and rodents, can act as pollinators, the most common (and important) pollinators are insects, especially bees.

Bees also produce food for humans directly in the form of honey. And there is a lot of interest in the medicinal properties of honey and the many other products bees make.

Unfortunately, many bee species are at risk. Their habitats are disappearing as green spaces are cleared and replaced with buildings, and the use of pesticides on crops and flowers is harmful to them.

Help a Bee Out
The best way to help bees is by raising awareness of their important work.

You can also help by planting a range of flowers in your garden so that bees have access to nectar and pollen, by choosing sustainable, organic food sources, and buying local honey and other bee products.

Which Bee Word Search to Use
There are three levels of word search included in the printable Bee Word Search document (see full download and print instructions below). I have not included an age or grade level on the puzzles as you know best which will challenge your students appropriately.

The first follows the more traditional word search format with a list of bee words to find within the word search letter grid. This puzzle includes 18 bee words to find.

The second word search page provides a series of fill-the-word statements for children to solve. These statements are all facts about bees. This version includes a bee word bank for students to use. The solutions to the quiz questions are the words to find within the bee word search grid.

The third puzzle again uses the word bee related quiz questions for the students to solve however, this time there is no word bank provided. Students can research, or draw on prior knowledge at the conclusion of a unit of study about bees to find the answers. The solutions to these questions are the words to find within the bee word search grid. There is also a bonus challenge – find 5 bonus bee words hidden within the puzzle.

How to Use Word Search Puzzles in the Classroom
Download the file and print your chosen word search page. Add pencils and invite children to start solving the puzzle. Word searches make a great activity for spelling or word study time and can be used as a resource for early finishers. The challenge word searches provide a handy learning extension activity too.