How To Create Your Own Ant Farm In Your Home?

Building an ant farm is an easy and fun science project to keep the kiddos entertained and learning during the holidays, as they avidly watch the ants build an underground city of tunnels.

Not only will this collaborative and inclusive project teach your little scientists all about ants, but they will also get to venture into the great outdoors to collect the little creatures!

An ideal activity for children of all ages and interests, and allows them to share their scientific observations with friends and teachers. Each ant farm lasts for a few weeks, so this project is ideal for continued maintenance. Enjoy spending time together as a family while the ants create their own small family and showcase their intriguing life cycle and habits!

What Do You Need?

– 3 Jars (with Lids included): 1 Small Jar (That will fit inside the bigger jar), 1 Big Jar, and 1 Jar For Collecting Ants

– 1 Spoon For Collecting Ants

– 1 Jar for Collecting loose, sand-like soil

– Sand-like Soil

– Water (as all animals need water) – click here for more information!

– Cloth

– Sugar/Honey water solution to feed the ants – click here for more details!

Follow These Easy 10 Steps To Create Your Own Antfarm:

1. Poke small holes into the lid of the ant collection jar (careful – the holes must not allow the ants to escape, but must be big enough so that air comes into the jar). Parental assistance is advised at this stage.

2. Go outside and locate an anthill, or find a place where there are many ants.

3. Using the spoon, collect around 15-20 ants, and place them in the ant collection jar. Make sure not to collect fire ants, which are red! Parental supervision is advised at this stage.

4. In the same location, collect some soil from around the anthill and place it in the soil collection jar. If you are not near an anthill, collect loose and slightly moist soil from outside.

5. Bring the ants and soil home.

6. Place the lid on the small jar, and then place this in the center of the bigger jar.

7. Fill ¾ of the remaining space around the small jar with the soil. Make sure the dirt is loosely packed so that the ants can move around. Try not to make a mess!

8. Pour the ants into the big jar (now filled with soil), closing the lid tightly, and make sure to poke a few holes into the lid for oxygen!

9. To keep the ants happy and healthy, make sure to provide food and water. You can do this by filling up a test tube with water and putting a cotton ball at the end. You can also combine food and water by placing sugar water, or you can feed them fresh fruit or jam – click here for more information!

10. Cover the jar with a cloth when you are not watching the ants, as they prefer to make their tunnels in the dark!