How to Make an Ant Farm Jar and Watch an Ant Colony Build Mazes
How to Make an Ant Farm Jar and Watch an Ant Colony Build Mazes Craft Activity for Kids
Crafts Materials Needed
– 2 Jars – One Big, One Smaller
– Loose, Sand-Like Soil
– Water
– Sugar
Step 1
Clean both jars out, and dry them out. Take the outside wrappers off so you will be able to see inside the ant jar.
Step 2
Put the smaller jar, without its lid, upside down, within the bigger jar. Try to center it. Poke a few tiny holes in the jar lid, small enough for ants to not escape.
Step 3
Fill the outside area between both jars, with the sandy-soil. Make sure that the entire area is filled, but don’t pack it tightly or the ants will not be able to dig their way through it.
Step 4 : Finding and Trapping the Ants
Now you must find the ants for your ant farm jar. Go looking in your back yard or in the local park. If you still can not find any ants then you can build an ant trap. Ants love sugar, so what you should do is put some sugar, mixed with a tiny bit of water, into a jar or can. Put it on its side and keep an eye on it…when you have about 20 ants. Don’t get more than 20 ants…crowding too many ants in the jar will make them less active and less fun to watch. You can close the jar and put them in your ant farm jar (DO THIS OUTSIDE – NOT INSIDE YOUR HOUSE). Important : Make sure that these ants are from the same colony or they will land up fighting and killing each other.
Step 5 : Close That Jar Tight
Make sure to close that jar tight. Don’t worry about the ants getting enough air because you will be opening it to put food in there. Believe it or not, that is plenty of air for your ants.
Feeding Your Ants
Do the feeding of your ants outside to keep them from escaping into your house (or I will get a lot of nasty emails from your Moms). 🙂
Once a week (no more than this) feed the ants a few drops of sugar water. You can put it directly into the soil. You can also drop in there a few grains of bird or grass seed.
FEEDING ANTS TOO MUCH CAN KILL THEM!
Keep Your Ants Safe
– Keep your ant jar away from direct blow of air conditioners, radiators, and heaters…keep them at normal room temperature.
– Keep them out of the direct glare of sunlight.
The Fun Part is Watching Your Ants Build an Underground City
Now just watch and observe your ants build their own littler underground city. They can build them most amazing, intricate mazes. I hope you enjoyed this project.
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27 Comments
jade
05.01.2011
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww !
Jennifer
12.11.2011
Hi, I’ve tried making an ant farm and its going ok. One thing that is troubling me is that every morning there are a few dead ants lying on the top of the soil!
Is something wrong?
By for now
Jennifer
admin
12.12.2011
This might just be them dying at a natural rate. But it also might be that you got ants from different colonies so they are killing each other. Are you keeping the jar out of direct sun light, also is it away from blasts of air or heat?
If you are doing everything right…you can try poking a few tiny holes in the jar lid. I got this craft from a book that was really old…so maybe jars are more air tight than they used to be. Let me know what happens. Thanks. Rachel
Jennifer
12.18.2011
I think I’m doing everything right but they don’t seem to take in the sugar water I give them. Is there anything else I can give them?
From Jennifer
admin
12.20.2011
Hi Jennifer…check out this article on feeding ants … it will help you a lot. It looks like you can feed them apples, celery, lettuce. This article says you should put a drops of water in every day….so maybe that is what is going on.
Jennifer
12.20.2011
Thanks that has really helped!
I have been feeding them bits of apple and they love them!
Next time I’ll upload a photo! 🙂
Jennifer
12.26.2011
Sorry but I can not upload a photo at all!
I have no idea how to.:)
By the way how do you tell if your ants are no longer alive?
In other words how long does it last?
Bye for now! :p
The Classroom Creative
05.21.2012
Back when we were teaching, we paid good money for an ant farm. Where was this post back then??? lol…Hopefully, this will make many a frugal parent and teacher smile.
We featured your post at our insect unit and craft roundup.
Hope you have a lovely week!
Nicolette & Karen
editors of The Classroom Creative.
pato
07.31.2012
what do you feed them
admin
08.07.2012
Little pieces of apples, lettuce, celery.
MomofFour
08.28.2012
In Step 2, you say to poke tiny holes in the lid, but you also say to leave the lid off the little jar. Which lid are you referring to here? Later you say to screw the lid on tight. Do you mean to poke small holes in the lid of the big jar? For air? Thanks
admin
08.28.2012
Sorry that this was confusing. In step #2, yes, take the lid off of the smaller jar. Poke holes in the lid of the bigger jar. And the lid that I want you to screw on tight is for the bigger jar. I hope that this clears things up.
chloe
10.01.2012
so can you use normal sand like beach sand or like play sand?? Also does the sand need to be like damp sand or dry? Or just your garden soil?
admin
10.12.2012
Yes, just normal, dry, play sand. I hope this helps. Good luck.
Cara
10.30.2012
How long does it take the ants to dig their mazes?
Rene
04.15.2013
why do you put the jar in the middle?
Lydia
05.05.2013
What if the ants are all angry?
stephanie
05.18.2013
From what I remember, ant colonies need their queen to survive. You can only expect these farms to live for about 1-3 months. Ants communicate with pheromones, I’d wonder if your angry ants aren’t just sending mad pheromones to each other, or perhaps two competing groups.
Sharon
05.19.2013
Love the idea. I’m going to try it with my kindergarten class. Can I use potting soil for step 3? It’s pretty loose and we just finished planting seeds and have a lot left over. Thanks
admin
06.05.2013
Hi there. I’m sorry that I haven’t responded but my computer was out for repair for 3 weeks. I’m pretty sure potting soil would work, but I’m not sure. Sorry.
Deborah
07.24.2013
Can you use a plastic jar?
admin
08.03.2013
Sure. 🙂
Laurie
08.22.2013
I totally look forward to doing this with my kids! One question though – what is the pupose of the jar in the middle ?
Kate
08.31.2013
I’m wondering…after observing the ants for a while, can you release them back outside again?
admin
09.03.2013
I’m sure you can…that would be a very nice thing to do.
admin
09.03.2013
I’m not really sure…found this craft in a very old book. :-/
Beth
11.08.2013
I would imagine the purpose of the small jar in the middle is so that the ants builds their tunnels against the walls of the large jar so you can observe them. If it’s just a big jar of sand then most of their tunnels could be hidden in the middle and you wouldn’t have much to see. 🙂
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