Ant Facts for Kids Worksheet & Printable Fact Sheet
With summer here, these ant facts for kids, along with the ant worksheet, will be a fun learning opportunity for the warm season.
Ants are everywhere during the summer making it a great time to teach your kids more about them! Then, as they see these little creatures crawling around outdoors, they will know more about them, and respect them.
Fun Ant Facts for Kids
We’ve gathered some fun and interesting facts about ants that we think kids will love. We’ve also created an activity printable that you can use as a learning tool.
Just have the kids read over the ant facts for kids below, do some online research about ants, and complete the short activity.
1. There are over 10,000 species of ants!
That is a lot of ants! They are probably the insect you see the most of, especially during the warm summer months. You might see them scurrying across the ground carrying food or gathering around something sweet you’ve dropped on the ground.
2. Ants leave a pheromone trail.
Ants travel for miles as they try to gather food and supplies. As they travel, they leave a pheromone trail so that they know where they have been.
3. All hail the ant “Queen”.
A queen ant is the mother ant who controls an ant colony. An ant colony, also known as a formicary, is filled with millions of ants. The only job the queen ant has is to lay eggs.
Each ant colony only has one queen, the rest are worker ants who help the queen produce the eggs and those who go out and gather food.
4. Ants hear through vibration.
Like many insects, and snakes, ants do not have ears. Instead, they can feel the vibrations on the ground through their feet.
Many of them do not have eyes either. Those ants use their antennas to feel their way through the world.
4. Ant colonies are huge.
As we mentioned before, ant colonies are filled with millions of ants. If you think living with your brother or sister is bad, imagine living with hundreds of thousands of brothers or sisters!
Within the colony, ants build amazing homes. You’ve probably seen those ant mounds or hills in the yard. If you were to go inside the ant hill, you’d find a series of tunnels and rooms that the ants have made. Each tunnel and room has it’s own purpose. From storing food to resting and raising the baby ants.
5. An ant can carry up to 20 times his size.
While ants are one of the smallest insects, they are also one of the strongest! An ant can carry up to 20 times his own bodyweight. When a larger, heavier, object needs carried, the ants will come together to help carry it back to the colony.
6. Ants can get as big as 1 inch.
The body of an ant is made up of three parts and can get measure as big as an inch. The parts of the body include the head, the thorax (midsection), and the abdomen.
7. The mouth is the most important part of the body.
One of the coolest ant facts for kids we found was about the ant’s mouth. Each ant has two sets of jaws. A set on the inside and one on the outside in which they use to eat, fight, and carry food.
8. Ants can defend themselves in a variety of different ways.
When an ant is in danger, they defend themselves by spitting, biting, or play dead. They also send a sound alert to the rest of the ants in the colony to warn them of danger.
9. Carpenter ants live in wood.
In most cases, the ants you find in or around your home are carpenter ants. These little guys make their colonies inside the wood. They prefer damp dark areas like tree stumps or wood piles. They don’t eat the wood they destroy though, they enjoy sweets (like ice cream or sugary foods) and meat.
10. Red Fire ants are the most aggressive ant species.
These little guys may not be big, but they sure do pack a punch! A fire ant is red in color and is more aggressive than any other ant species. These little guys also sting which causes a painful fire like feeling and will leave a welt wear it stings.
Ant Facts for Kids Worksheet & Printable
Ants are amazing little creatures and these interesting ant facts for kids are something they will find fun to learn.
To go along with these fun ant facts for kids, we’ve made up a printable fact sheet and a worksheet kids can complete.
Download the free printable ant activity here.
