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Ants at the Picnic Unit Study

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Ants at the Picnic

Summer is here and we are all set to go on a picnic. Will any ants join us? We take out the basket and red checkered tablecloth and head outdoors for a fun filled picnic lunch where the ants help us to learn about science, math, social studies and much more.

While we eat our picnic lunch we might discuss the characteristics of ants to discover whether or not they are insects. We might notice ants crawling across the table cloth. Later on we will be drawing ants, counting ants, and even singing about ants.

Come on a picnic of learning with us. Come to the Ant's Picnic...

Photo Credit: Leaf-Cutting Ants by Dennis, David M.
Available on Allposters

Ants at the Picnic Art Project

Ant Art

Ants at the Picnic Arts and Crafts Project

Photo Credit: Ants at a Picnic
on Snippety Gibbet, Used by Permission


Here is a delightful art project to accompany our Ants at the Picnic unit study. Jan is an elementary art teacher who created these placemats with her kindergarten class. Weaving over and under to create the red checkered table cloth the busy little ants work diligently to create a table cloth for the picnic.

Can you see the ants crawling across the picnic table? These ants are made from a series of three fingerprints with the faces, antenna and 6 legs drawn with markers.

Children learning to multiply might like to skip count by 6's to see how many ant legs are crawling across the picnic table.

Thank you, Jan, for the delightful arts and crafts project and especially for permission to show and link to your Ants at the Picnic activity.

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Snippety Gibbet: Ants at a Picnic

An elementary art teacher teaches kindergarten children to weave red-checkered table mats and then uses a finger print technique to show ants crawling around at the picnic.1 point

Ants at the Picnic Math Activity

Skip Counting the Ants by 10's

The ants are coming to the picnic in groups of tens. Look for the ants on each page. Are there actually 10 on each page? Practice skip counting by 10's as page after page the ants come join us at the picnic.

After reading the book, show the children how to make their own checked place mats by weaving strips of white construction paper into a red piece of construction paper. Then use plastic ants to make groups of ten ants each to practice skip counting by 10's.
Ants at the Picnic: Counting by Tens (Know Your Numbers)

Ants at the Picnic: Counting by Tens (Know Your Numbers)

by: Dahl, Michael

Amazon Price: $26.09 (as of 05/27/2012)Buy Now

Picnic Ants Mathmats

Skip Counting the Ants by 10's

Read the story of Ants at the Picnic and then pull out a large quantity of plastic ants. Children take a handful of plastic ants and place them in groups of tens on the red checkered placemat, then record the number of ants on their recording sheet.
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Ants Play Games at the Picnic

An Ant and Bee Strategy Game

Bee Hive Game

Photo Credit: Hive 3Rd Edition
Available on Amazon


Pour the tiles out of the bag. Place your hexagon shaped tiles on the table. Think carefully as you place each ant, bee or other insect on the board. With each addition, the playing field expands. Will your ants help to capture the opposing player's queen bee?

Every time you play the game it changes. Think carefully and plan out your strategies, Will your ants be on the winning side or will your queen bee be captured?

Ant Game

Photo Credit: Frog Tongue
on Flickr, Creative Commons


Hive is a new game make up of hexagon shaped tiles.
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Writing in Ants

The Ant Font

Ant Picnic Invite 2 card
Ant Picnic Invite 2 by EHPlesser
create card designs on Zazzle


When you watch ants playing follow the leader it can look like writing in cursive. The ant font allows you easily to write words or even stories in ants. Use this font to create word walls, encourage spelling practice or just to have fun.

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Ant Font

Downloadable Ant Font - You need WinRAR to open this file1 point

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Ant Pile Font

Ant Pile font download for Windows or Mac OS. This font is available in TrueType or OpenType format.1 point

Adjectives for Ants

Describe an ant:

Army Ants
Army AntsAnt Art
Available on Amazon


In an ant society, ants work together to help each other to do what no one ant could do on their own. Go outside and find an anthill. Be careful not to sit on one or even sit on a path that the ants are following. With a pencil and clipboard in hand, observe the behavior of the ants. Do you see them working together?

You might see ants carrying pieces of food back to their nest in the anthill. Notice the size of the crumbs or leaves they are carrying. Can you see how the ant is carrying the fool? Does it use it use its mouth or feet?

Use the following adjectives to describe ants. Add more words to the list. Post these adjectives on an Adjectives for Ants Word Wall. Use the Ant Font to type new adjectives and add them to this word wall as you discover them. Children use the words to help them remember how to spell new vocabulary and to remember to constantly try to incorporate new words into their writing and vocabulary.

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industrious

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team-player

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cooperative

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Hard working

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Ant Books

Let's Read about Ants!

Ant Anatomy

Photo Credit: Ant Anatomy
on WPClipart, Public Domain


Read about ants, identify the ants you find as you observe your kitchen and back yard. What kind of ant is this?
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Ants and Trilliums

Trillium seeds take 6 - 8 years to grow and blossom. The seeds are distributed by ants who gather the fruits and later deposit the seeds in their compost bins. The ant garbage dumps form just the right nutrients for the Trillium Seedlings to grow in. Thanks to ants, Trilliums are able to spread up to 30 feet from the parent plant.
White with Red Trillium Refrigerator Magnets White with Red Trillium Refrigerator Magnets by evelynsaenz

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Red Trillium Refrigerator Magnets Red Trillium Refrigerator Magnets by evelynsaenz

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Ants help Trilliums

A Trillium Flower Blooming in the Great Smoky Mountains
A Trillium Flower...
Available at Allposters

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Trilliums by Chrys Gardener, Master Gardener

Ants have been observed to carry trillium seeds as far as thirty feet from the plant. Trilliums are very difficult to transplant from the wild, ...1 point

How many days until the Fourth of July Picnic?

By July the ants are anxious to begin picnicing. Spread out your red checkered table cloth and count the ants as they arrive to share in your picnic lunch. Can you see their 6 legs? Do more than one kind of ant come to your picnic? What can you learn from the ants that come to your 4th of July Picnic?

Countdown to Fourth of July Picnic

Fourth of July Picnic: July 4, 2012

Ant Art

Ants Gossip with Cups of Cappuccino on a Leaf
Ants Gossip with...
Available at Allposters


Use these links for inspiration when creating ant inspired artwork. Look at what others artists have created when inspired by ants, then create your own ant art.

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Amazing Ant-Related Pictures

Paintings, prints and drawing of ants from around more...1 point

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Ant sWall Art

Ant sWall Art - Wall Sticker, Mural, & Decal D more...0 points

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Carpenter Ant (Camponotus sp) Stock Art Illustration

Fine art stock illustration of a Carpenter Ant. Hi more...0 points

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Chick and Ant - by Tracey Allyn Greene from aceo

Art 'Chick and Ant' - by Tracey Allyn Greene from more...0 points

Ant Worksheets

Ant Unit Study Activities

Ant Anatomy

Photo Credit: Ant Anatomy
on WPClipart


Worksheets with an ant theme. These worksheets can help to teach and reinforce knowledge learned in this ant unit study. Circle the parts of an ant's body in the Ant Word Search.

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Ant Words Word Search

Circle the ant related words:0 points

Will you come to the Ant's Picnic?

Would your children like to learn with an Ant's Picnic theme?

Now that you have joined us at the Ant's Picnic, what have you learned? Is this a unit study that your children would enjoy and learn from?

  • MaggiePowell Apr 27, 2012 @ 12:42 am | delete
    the ant and bee game looks like fun
  • intermarks Mar 28, 2012 @ 12:38 am | delete
    Very nice lens on Ant, I learn something new today. Thanks!
  • mahasson Aug 10, 2011 @ 12:47 pm | delete
    Thanks for creating such a useful lens!
  • heatherashton22 Aug 10, 2011 @ 12:45 pm | delete
    This is a great resource. Thanks for posting!
  • mahasson Aug 10, 2011 @ 11:54 am | delete
    This is a great teaching resource. Thanks for making this lens!
  • Donnette Jul 2, 2011 @ 12:26 pm | delete
    Lovely unit study... thank you
  • akumar46 May 14, 2011 @ 6:41 am | delete
    Certainly children enjoy and learn from Ant's Picnic Theme.Its great to learn through fun activities.
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About the Author of the Ant Picnic Unit Study

A Is For Ants

Photo Credit: Is For Ants by R. B. Davis
Available on Amazon

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Picnic Ants

Ants at the Picnic Unit Study in the Kingdom of Squid

Ants at the Picnic

Photo Credit: Ants Picnic
from WPClipart



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Evelyn_Saenz

My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning... more »

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