Ant Science for Preschool | Experiments & STEM Activities

Take a closer look at the busy world of ants with preschool experiments, observation activities, art, and science-center printables. Start with the life cycle and anatomy posters, then let children explore questions about how ants carry food, build colonies, find their way, and interact with their environment.

Use the activities across a spring or summer insect unit rather than trying to fit everything into one lesson. Children can make observations on an ant hunt, test ideas with STEM activities, and revisit what they learn using the booklet, posters, cards, and recording sheets. Perfect for preschool classrooms or home learning lessons.

What's Included

• Ant life cycle and anatomy: Ant science, life cycle, and anatomy posters; a life cycle spinner; and a black-and-white spinner coloring activity.
• Strength, colonies, and exoskeletons: Fact and colony posters; ant-strength and heavy-load activities; a hand-exoskeleton activity; three exoskeleton posters; a DIY ant formicarium activity; and ant-colony art.
• Senses, food, and trails: Sound and listening activities, a scavenger-hunt recording sheet, ant-food printables, a digestion experiment, an ant-food preference activity, a pheromone-trail experiment, and scent matching.
• Ants near and far: Fossil-themed activities, an ant hunt, seven common-ant cards, continent cards, 12 ants-around-the-world cards, and an ant sensory-bin activity.
• Relationships and review: Symbiotic-relationship activities and printables, ecosystem posters, an eight-page ant booklet, vocabulary resources, and nine word-wall cards.

Learning Benefits

• Observation and inquiry: Children look closely at ants and their surroundings, ask questions, and record what they notice.
• Prediction and experimentation: STEM activities invite children to test ideas about strength, sound, food preferences, and scent trails.
• Science vocabulary: Posters, cards, and the booklet introduce terms connected to ant bodies, life cycles, colonies, and ecosystems.
• Sorting and comparing: Ant cards and activities give children opportunities to notice similarities and differences.

Important Digital Details

• Instant Download: Access your file immediately after purchase. No physical items will be shipped.
• Print and Prep: For best results, print the posters, mats and cards on cardstock and laminate for rugged, daily classroom use. Print the instructions, worksheets and booklet on standard 8.5" x 11" paper.
• Usage Policy: Licensed for personal use or a single classroom only.