A FEW BATTY RESOURCES
arbordayblog.org Photo from Protecting Our Keystone Species Article by Jennifer Moon on the Arbor Day Blog
Part II
LEARNING ABOUT BATS
If you were with us on the first post of All About Bats, welcome back! If not, you can catch up by clicking on the link.
Bats are amazing mammals. Spend some time this year getting to know them. If you homeschool, you can incorporate practically every subject into a bat unit, including ethics and emotions, in a way that it doesn’t even seem like you’re studying a specific subject. It’ll just feel like a fun and interesting time learning about bats! But isn’t that the way some of the best learning happens?
This post is a collection of resources you can use for a homeschool unit or just as a family wanting to learn more about these amazing creatures we really can't live without that will hopefully be fun and interesting.
BAT VIEWING
Bracken Caves Bat Viewing
This link will take you to a 360-degree view of one of my favorite places to bat watch when in Central Texas: Bracken Caves near San Antonio.
Congress Avenue Bridge Bat Viewing
Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas, is one of my favorite urban bat colonies to watch and one I was lucky enough to work with biologists at since we lived nearby for a few years.
FUN BAT VIDEOS FOR KIDS
The Bat Squad Videos for Kids
In case you haven't figured it out, I think bats are pretty special. Here are a couple more bat videos that are particularly fun for elementary aged children: The Bat Squad, videos for children starring children, Hey Bats, What’s Your Habitat? and Amazing Bats!.
BAT HOUSES
WOODWORKING FOR BATS = IMMERSIVE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN
Mathematical Operations, Fractions, Measurement, Woodworking Skills, Heat Transfer, Heat Reflection versus Absorption, Sequencing, Diagrams, Air Currents, Textures, Wood Types, Surface Area…Yes, You guessed it! We are building a bat house.
Building a Great Bat House
Look at all the important concepts in the sub-title above that children can practice and learn if they build a bat house with you! Let’s get building! We like to add a bat house every other year where we live to give bats a safe place to hang out.
Buying a Great Bat House
The video link in the previous section will help you understand what makes a good bat house because there are a lot out there for sale that aren't that great. Building your own allows you to customize it for your region too. Building the bat house large enough and with the correct air flow and layers is critical to your bat house being successful. If you would rather purchase one, do some research with my links below so you don’t get stuck with one that is doomed to fail from the beginning. They do work if built correctly!
Why Bat House Size Does Matter
Here is a video about the giant bat houses in Florida that get quite the viewing audience each night.
Where You Can find Bat House Plans
Free Plans
You can also visit Bat Conservation International if you'd like some free bat house plans from expert Merlin Tuttle and BCI, and I included a free bat house building resource guide below in the links for parents. Your state’s fish and wildlife website may also offer free plans that are more specific to your region’s climate and bay species.
Purchased Plans
You can purchase plans online. Just make sure you look at your state department of fish and wildlife website to see if there is anything additional or different you need to do to your bat house for the area you live within. I haven't yet found a book version that meets or exceeds the free plans online from the various bat research organizations and the Department of Fish and Wildlife in each state, but if you’d like a book resource, look for those published by Bat Conservation International or Audubon.
Rregardless of if you choose free or bought plans, children will love hammering and sawing. Our children adored it so much anytime we built bat houses with them ( and our grandchildren do too), that they were sad when the project was finished because they wanted to keep hammering and sawing. It’s a great handcraft skill to teach children (fully supervised, of course) and even preschoolers can participate. We think you’ll love it, as well.
MORE BAT RESOURCES (plus a bit more about woodworking with children)
Woodworking with Children Resources
If you click on a book cover, it will take you to a page with a description. These are not necessarily about building a bat house as they are just continuing on building with your children and family.
Woodworking with Children by Anette Grunditz and Ulf Erixon, Floris Books, Ages 6-12 yrs.
Easy Birdhouses and Feeders by Michael Berger, Cool Springs Press, Written for Adults, Use with Families, 2014
Audubon Birdhouse Book, Revised by Margaret A. Barker and Elissa Ruth Wolfson; Cool Springs Press; Written for Adults to use Alone or with family and friends, 2021
Online Bat Resources For Children
- Bats on the Brink song by Mr. G ( author of Senorita Mariposa)
- See different types of bats here
- All About Bats: Myths versus Facts
- Be Nice to Bats for Kids: Help take care of bats!
- Bat Parts Diagram for Children
- Fish and Wildlife Bat Math Activity
- Bat Habitat Observation Activity for Children
- Bat Finger Puppet Template (though I’d recommend drawing it on and cutting it out from wool felt)
- Origami Bat instructions
- US Forest Service talks about bats to children
- National Parks Junior Cave Scientist
- Gardening for Bats: Help Children Organize a Garden to Attract Moths and other Insects bats eat
- Bats of Eastern Woodlands Poster (print in bigger size online through sites like Canva or in person at places like UPS, Staples or Costco.)
- Bats of Western Forests Poster (see where to print above)
- Bat Recipe Book: A cookbook of goodies & treats made with bat-dependent ingredients (fyi: the end of the book has a few recipes with "agave nectar" for parents only but the rest is all for kids and is pretty good)
- Bat Conservation International YouTube Playlist
Bat Resources For Parents
- Bat Builder’s Handbook: find more building plans for different bat houses here including color recommendations for your temperature zone region, experiments, FAQs and more
- Bats 101 from Bat Conservation International
- Bat Garden Guide is a more in-depth guide for planning a bat garden, including what kind of plants work best in each region of the U.S.
- Check out your Department of Fish and Wildlife for resources in your area. Here’s one we use from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
- Bat Week website, Bat Week is October 24 - 31 each year, but you can sign up on the website to receive information for next year.
- Bat Recipe Book: A cookbook of goodies & treats made with bat-dependent ingredients.
- National Wildlife Federation's Night Friends, American Bats Online Resource book (free)
BAT CITIZEN SCIENCE RESOURCES
- Bat Detective, a Family Citizen Science Project (this study is finished; check here for other citizen science projects that you and your family may love) (search by subject or state)
- Neighbourhood Bat Watch (Canada only), a Family Citizen Science Project
- Arizona Bat Watch, a Family Citizen Science Project (you don't need to be from Arizona to participate)
Bat Picture Book Resources
If the books have gone out of print, you can often still find them in your library or through a used book website such as Abe Books.
Stellaluna by Janelle Cannon--Stellaluna is praised for its accurate drawings of bats and though this is a fictional story for young children, it helps remove negative stereotypes about bats. Cannon was inspired in her artwork by the Gambian epauletted fruit bats.
Nightsong by Ari—A fictional story about the real use of bat echolocation.
Fiona the Fruit Bat by Dan Riskin, Greystone Kids, Ages 4 - 7 years
Bat Citizens, Defending the Ninjas of the Night by Rob Laidlaw, Pajama Press, Ages 7 - 10 yrs.
Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies--An accurate description of bats and bat behaviors using the tiny Pipistrille Bats (bumblebee bats) as inspiration.
Bats by Gail Gibbons—Nonfiction book about the amazing bat!
A Place for Bats by Melissa Stewart--Nonfiction book about bats, using illustrated scenes of actual bat colonies in real places. Award Winning Book
Enjoy. We hope you and your family can spread some batty love around!
Written by Laura Lowe
Laura is a professional educator with degrees in Environmental Science, as well as Education, with decades of experience working with children and the environment. She spent many years studying bats in Central Texas and is passionate about their conservation. She is also an avid crafter, novice hobby farmer, mom to three daughters and six grandchildren under the age of seven. She enjoys every second she can spending time with her husband, children and grandchildren.
More about Laura and Alder and Alouette, here.