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What do ants like to eat? {science activity for kids}

April 18, 2014 by Katie 12 Comments

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If you’ve been following along, you know that my kids and I completed an ant unit and I am sharing a number of activities we did to learn about ants as part of that unit.

After learning about ant habitats and ant anatomy, we wanted to know: What do ants like to eat?

In reading about ants, we learned that different kinds of ants like different kinds of foods, including seeds, insects, and aphid honeydew. However, the ants in our ant farm simply ate the gel that was part of their habitat, so their eating habits were not all that interesting. Therefore, we decided to set up a science activity to learn what the ants in our backyard like to eat.

Note: For more resources, printables and activities related to ants and other insects, please see my insects unit study page.

What do ants like to eat? A science activity for kids to learn about ants #science #ants #handsonlearning || Gift of Curiosity

We decided to place several different types of food onto a tray. (We used these plastic paint palettes to separate the different foods.)

The foods that we placed on our tray included:

  • small crumbs of bread
  • shredded cheese
  • raisins
  • small chunks of walnut
  • honey
  • an orange, which is not pictured below as it was added right before we headed back inside and I forgot to snap a picture (oops!)

What do ants like to eat? A science activity for kids to learn about ants #science #ants #handsonlearning || Gift of Curiosity

After we placed the tray of food in our backyard, we waited around a little while to see if any ants would come along.

Eventually, we got one lone ant to come check out the food. She wasn’t too interested in the walnuts.

What do ants like to eat? A science activity for kids to learn about ants #science #ants #handsonlearning || Gift of Curiosity

But she did stop for a while to check out the honey.

What do ants like to eat? A science activity for kids to learn about ants #science #ants #handsonlearning || Gift of Curiosity

Even though nothing really exciting happened right away, the kids, especially QBoy, kept staring and staring at the tray. Eventually I had to drag him inside with the promise that we would return in an hour or two to check on the food.

What do ants like to eat? A science activity for kids to learn about ants #science #ants #handsonlearning || Gift of Curiosity

And when we went back out a while later, we were not disappointed with what we saw! The ants were all over the honey and the orange, and to a lesser extent, the raisins. The ants pretty much ignored the walnuts, bread, and cheese.

What do ants like to eat? A science activity for kids to learn about ants #science #ants #handsonlearning || Gift of Curiosity

We used this activity to spark a discussion of why the ants were attracted the the honey, orange, and raisins but not the other foods. (Hint: It has to do with the sugar content of the foods!)

More Ant learning resources

More ant posts from Gift of Curiosity:

  • Ant Printables Pack
  • Ant Do-a-Dot Printables
  • Ant 3-Part Cards
  • Ant anatomy activity and printable
  • Learning about ant habitats
  • Books about ants

For more resources, printables and activities related to ants and other insects, please see my Insects Unit Study page and my Insects & Bugs Pinterest board.

Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity’s board Unit Ideas: Insects & Bugs on Pinterest.

Don't miss out!

12 Comments

Comments

  1. Jeanine says

    April 21, 2014 at 6:50 am

    My youngest has a huge fear of bugs. Any type of bug, creepy crawly, & even just a fly. I found preparing her just once in a while, & letting her know “its insect season” has helped for the last two years. This year, looks like its going to be a bit tougher… I needed some more ideas! After having spent this last weekend thoroughly enjoying (& getting LOTS of use of) your Printable Learning Easter Pack, I think I’m best to follow this Lesson Plan from the start! I know I say thank you all the time & it might sound repetative but, i truly mean it! I will email you some photos!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      April 21, 2014 at 9:27 am

      Thanks Jeanine, I would love to see some photos if you’d like to send them my way!

      Reply
  2. Ashley says

    April 21, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    Awesome hands-on learning! Thank you for linking up to the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Bloghop!

    Reply
  3. Christy says

    April 21, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    What a great idea! We enjoy watching ants. We may give this a try!

    Reply
  4. Natalie PlanetSmartyPants says

    April 23, 2014 at 9:18 pm

    Love this experiment – I wonder if it will be a little gross for my daughter 🙂 Thanks for sharing with After School Link Up!

    Reply
  5. Carrie says

    April 25, 2014 at 5:01 pm

    What a great lesson!! I love it! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!

    Reply
  6. Deceptively Educational says

    April 27, 2014 at 8:23 pm

    What a cool hands-on science experiment! I love it. Thanks for sharing this at the After School Linky!

    Reply
  7. Ashley says

    April 30, 2014 at 9:50 am

    Looks like a fun experiment to perform outside! Featured you on Mom’s Library this week!

    Reply
  8. Ticia says

    May 2, 2014 at 10:17 pm

    Great idea! I hadn’t thought about seeing what the ants prefer (probably because here we’re trying to get rid of them as fast as we can).

    Reply
  9. Amanda Martin says

    April 22, 2015 at 12:25 pm

    We replicate this experiment regularly just by eating our meals outside when the weather is nice. Kids aren’t clean eaters! Leave the food on the ground and you’ve either got some serious cleaning up to do later or a new collection of pets.

    Reply
    • Katie SG says

      April 22, 2015 at 2:04 pm

      Too true!

      Reply
  10. abinaya says

    July 14, 2015 at 7:08 am

    Thanks for the nice information

    Reply

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