A FEW BATTY RESOURCES
Part II
LEARNING ABOUT BATS
BAT VIEWING
Bracken Caves Bat Viewing
Congress Avenue Bridge Bat Viewing
FUN BAT VIDEOS FOR KIDS
The Bat Squad Videos for Kids
BAT HOUSES
WOODWORKING FOR BATS = IMMERSIVE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN
Building a Great Bat House
Buying a Great Bat House
Why Bat House Size Does Matter
Where You Can find Bat House Plans
Free Plans
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
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.
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.