Background information:

Content information: It’s about as easy to overlook ants as it is to step on them. Until they give you a nip that is. But these little critters are pretty impressive:

There are an estimated 22,000 species of ant although only just over half of them have been classified;
There is approximately 1 million ants for every 1 human;
They’ve been around for up to 130 million years;
They live in colonies, some made up of only a handful of individuals while others can be highly organised, covering large territories and containing millions of individuals;
They have colonised almost every landmass on Earth, with the exception of Antarctica and a couple of other inhospitable islands;
In some places they make up between 15 and 25% of the total number of animals;
Ant societies have division of labour, communication between individuals and an ability to solve complex problems (much like human societies!);
Most ant species have a system in which only the queen and breeding females have the ability to mate; and
Some nests have one queen, others have multiple queens and others exists without queens.

What do ants eat? Well, because there are so many different types of ant as a group they eat just about anything. Some ants will even eat each other! However, most ants do enjoy sugary foods, including fruit. Other popular foods are meats, seeds and grains, and vegetables.

Where do ants live? Many species of ant live in colonies, building nests in the ground, under stones or logs, or in trees. However, some species are nomadic and live without a permanent nest.

Why do we need ants? Without ants our world would be a very different place. Ants are a critical part of the food chain for so many of the animals that we eat; without them our choice of foods would be drastically cut. In addition, ants break down and help dead plant and animal matter to decompose. Without ants the world would be a lot messier, smellier and definitely more boring.

Activity: What do ants eat?

Ages - 0 to 2

What to do

Preparation: Collect a range of food items, such as salt, cheese, bread, honey, sugar, tea leaves, curry powder, milk and peanut butter. You will only need a small amount of each item. Lay these items out on a plate.

Begin by asking children to think about what animals they have seen in the yard at your centre. Have they seen any ants? What are the ants doing in the yard? Are they looking for food? What do ants eat?

Show children the range of foods and explain that you will see what types of foods ants like to eat. As as group, go outside and look for a place in the yard where you can see ants. Place the plate of food close to the ants. While you wait for the ants to notice your food, talk to your children about the animals that are in the yard and what they like to eat. Remember to include other bugs and creepy crawlies in your discussion.

It may take a while for the ants to discover the plate: you could always place another plate of food out overnight before the activity to see which ones are most appealing to ants, or check the plate on the following day.

Ant parade: Using the template (Ant antenna template) make each child a set of ant antennae or create your own using straws or pipe cleaners. Give each child a set and hold an ant parade through the yard, investigating the areas of the yard, just as the ants might.

Provocations

I wonder if we have any ants in the yard?
I wonder what are the ants doing in the yard?
I wonder if they are looking for food?
I wonder what ants eat?

Possible lines of development

Food for other animals in the yard - e.g. fruit and seeds for birds, fruit and veggies for possums.
Being careful with insects - don’t touch, wait for an adult to help you.
Make a parade for other animals.

Ages - 2 to 3

What to do

Preparation: Collect a range of food items, such as salt, cheese, bread, honey, sugar, tea leaves, curry powder, milk and peanut butter. You will only need a small amount of each item. Lay these items out on a plate.

Begin by asking children to think about what animals they have seen in the yard at your centre. Have they seen any ants? What are the ants doing in the yard? Are they looking for food? What do ants eat?

Show children the range of foods and explain that you will see what types of foods ants like to eat. As as group, go outside and look for a place in the yard where you can see ants. Place the plate of food close to the ants. While you wait for the ants to notice your food, talk to your children about the animals that are in the yard and what they like to eat. Remember to include other bugs and creepy crawlies in your discussion.

It may take a while for the ants to discover the plate: you could always place another plate of food out overnight before the activity to see which ones are most appealing to ants, or check the plate on the following day.

Create an ant trail: Using the cut out ant templates Ants template), ask children to create an ant trail through the yard, leading to the places where ants could find water or food, and where they could live.You can create the trail close to an existing ant trail or you can create a new trail. You could also consider creating different trails for the different types of ant in your yard (if you have them). Identify the different types of ant by size (shrink or expand ant images on the photocopier) or by different colour (colour the ant images differently)

Provocations

I wonder if we have any ants in the yard?
I wonder if we have different types of ants in the yard (different sizes and colours)?
I wonder what are the ants doing in the yard?
I wonder if they are looking for food?
I wonder what ants eat?
I wonder where the ants in our yard live?

Possible lines of development

Ages - 3 to 5

What to do

Preparation: Collect a range of food items, such as salt, cheese, bread, honey, sugar, tea leaves, curry powder, milk and peanut butter. You will only need a small amount of each item. Lay these items out on a plate.

Begin by asking children to think about what animals they have seen in the yard at your centre. Have they seen any ants? What are the ants doing in the yard? Are they looking for food? What do ants eat?

Show children the range of foods and explain that you will see what types of foods ants like to eat. As as group, go outside and look for a place in the yard where you can see ants. Place the plate of food close to the ants. While you wait for the ants to notice your food, talk to your children about the animals that are in the yard and what they like to eat. Remember to include other bugs and creepy crawlies in your discussion.

It may take a while for the ants to discover the plate: you could always place another plate of food out overnight before the activity to see which ones are most appealing to ants, or check the plate on the following day.

Make a play-dough ant restaurant: Working as a group ask children to make an ant restaurant outside. Ask children to make tables and chairs, plates of the favourite ant food, cups of water and menus. Set up your ant restaurant on a board that can be set up outside. Help children make a sign for their restaurant and invite the ants in your yard to dinner!

Provocations

I wonder if we have any ants in the yard?
I wonder if we have different types of ants in the yard (different sizes and colours)?
I wonder what the ants are doing in the yard?
I wonder if they are looking for food?
I wonder what ants eat?
I wonder which foods the ants will like best?
I wonder which foods they won’t eat?

Possible lines of development

Food for other animals in the yard - e.g. fruit and seeds for birds, fruit and veggies for possums.
Being careful with insects - don’t touch, wait for an adult to help you.
Build a bug house - Build a bug house instruction sheet
Make a restaurant for other animals.
Make an ant trail using the Ants template.
Hold an ant parade using the Ant antenna template. Cut out a set of antennae for each child or create your own using pipe cleaners.

Evaluation

Complete an analysis of learning listing evidence about:

Belonging	Finding something of interest
Communication	Expressing an idea or feeling
Exploration	Engaging with challenge and persisting when difficulty arises
Well being	Being involved

Embedding into daily practice

Provide hollows, rocks, logs and leaf litter, which are used by many little and large animals for shelter and nesting.
Don’t pour chemicals down the drain - these can hurt little animals in your local creek.
Don't spray the garden unless absolutely necessary. Use natural pesticides where possible (How to control garden pests the green way)

What Do Ants Eat?

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