There are trillions of ants on the planet and they are found almost everywhere on Earth, apart from the very coldest climates. Make your own ant farm so you can observe these amazing creatures for a couple of weeks and then return them to their home undisturbed.
You will need
☑ 1 large and 1 small jar
(to fit inside the big jar)
☑ Putty
☑ 1 cup of sand
☑ 2 cups of soil
☑ Small plastic container
☑ Compass/sharp knife/awl
☑ Trowel
☑ Old sponge
☑ Small bit of fruit
☑ 2 letter-size (A4) sheets of black card
☑ Sticky tape
How to Make Your Own Ant Farm
- Big jars (around 2 pints/1 liter capacity or more) work best for this project. The smaller jar should fit inside the larger one with about 1in (2.5cm) or less of space between. Put the smaller jar into the larger jar. Use a bit of putty on the bottom to keep it in the center.
2. Mix about two cups of soil with 1 cup of sand. Mix in about a tablespoon or two of water if the soil is dry (it should be slightly moist but not wet). Add the soil mixture but do not press it down—the soil should be loose. Stop when you get to about 3in (7.5cm) from the top.
3. Put the lid on the jar and ask an adult to poke some air holes into the top using a compass or awl. Make sure the holes aren’t too big as the ants might escape.
4. To provide the ants with food and water, cut off a small chunk from an old sponge and soak it in water. Cut a small chunk of apple (or other fruit) and put them both on top of
the soil.
5. Take a plastic pot with a lid to collect your ants (you don’t need air holes as you won’t be storing the ants there for long). Look for black not red ants (these bite). Lift up plant pots and large rocks and, if you see lots of ants scurrying, there is probably a nest nearby.
Dig carefully into the soil to see if you can find them. Use a spoon to carefully scoop ants into your container—you’ll need at least 20 or 30. You’ll get some soil too but that’s okay as you left space in your jar. Only collect ants from one nest or they will kill each other.
6 Tip the ants into the prepared jar and quickly add the lid. Ants prefer to tunnel in the dark, so make a tube for the jar with sheets of black card and tape. Leave the ants in a cool place with the card tube in place for a day or two.
7. Now your ant farm is finished, you can check back on them regularly and see how they progress over a couple of weeks. You should see the ants start to create tunnels and scurry about. Observe the way they greet each other as they pass. Try picking one ant and following its journey around the jar.
You may notice that when two ants meet they greet each other by touching antennae (the feelers on their head that can detect scents). This is a way to recognize each other as part of the same colony and communicate useful information. After a couple of weeks you can take the jar back to the ant nest and open the lid to allow the ants to return to their home.
Science made simple
Ants really are impressive insects. They can adapt to live in almost any habitat in the world in complex, highly organized social colonies, or family groups. Each ant has a specific role—be it forager, builder, nurse (all of which are worker ants), or drone, which is the male reproductive ant.
They are also fantastic communicators and interact using pheromones, a type of scent emitted to send specific signals. They recognize one another this way and can spot an intruder instantly. If an ant from a different colony enters the nest the ants release pheromones to signal to the colony that they are potentially under attack.
They are also impressive builders. They can build huge chambers, ventilation shafts, bridges, and tunnels. The tunnels they build connect the different chambers of the nest. Living underground provides them with protection from predators and the weather and allows them to expand their home.
And they are also super strong. Some ants can lift objects up to 100 times their body weight. This is the equivalent of you being able to lift and lug around a truck!
Outdoor Science Book
This ant farm experiment is featured from the Outdoor Science Book by Laura Minter & Tia Williams.
This is a brilliant book, packed with outdoors to get our kids outside and learning. This book would be a great resource for homeschool families, or for any parents who are looking for simple and meaningful outdoor activities to try with the kids.
As we all know, time spent outside is so important and the ideas from this book allow you to mix it up with something new and different, and incorporate some hands on learning while you enjoy the fresh air. It’s definitely a win win, and we would recommend this book to all families.
There are 30 different experiments included in the book, including DIY Slushies, Water Clocks, Sand Volcano, Cardboard Box Oven, Wind Vane and lots more.
Outdoor Science by Laura Minter and Tia Williams, Button Books, RRP £12.99, available online & from all good bookshops
More Nature Activities for Kids
Continue the outdoor fun with these nature activities for kids, which are also a great way to learn.
If you enjoyed this making your own ant farm experiment, then we definitely recommend the book, and go ahead and share this blog post with friends and family or on social media. We really appreciate it!
Absolutely love this idea, I’m adding it to my list of summer activities to do.