All About Mini Beasts
Mini beasts are amazing – and they are everywhere! Step outside and look in your garden, under a rock, in air around you, in the undergrowth and you’ll find these fantastic little creatures busy living their lives. Find out more about mini beasts with our guide and get out into nature and see what you can find!
Mini Beast Facts
What are mini beasts?
They are small creatures that don’t have a backbone. Instead of a backbone they have a shell or hard ‘exoskeleton’. They are also known as invertebrates.
In the UK there are about 25,000 different types of invertebrate. There are so many mini beasts they make up 97% of life on earth!
Why are they important?
They carry out important jobs – recycling dead matter and pollinating plants. Bees are for our food productions as they pollinate our crops.
They are a food source for other animals. Without mini beasts we wouldn’t have any food and would be buried under waste!
Predators and Prey!
Some can be poisonous, to protect themselves, like wasps or to kill prey, like centipedes. Many are brightly coloured as a warning!
They can be very good at camouflage, blending into their surroundings so they can hide from predators or creep up on prey.
Mini Beasts Activities
Common Mini Beasts
Use out mini beast guide to find out more about all the different mini beasts you’re likely to see in your garden or local park.
Mini Beast Hunt
Take a trip to your local park or woodland for your mini beast hunt! Print out our record sheets to record what you find.
Build a Bug Hotel
We’ve got instructions for a simple bug hotel for young kids and a more complex design for older kids.
Wildlife Garden Build
Creating a wildlife garden is lots of fun, and a great way to get kids interested in the wonderful natural world around them.
Bee Fact File
We have some fabulous facts in our bee fact file. Find out about honey bees, bumblebees and solitary bees!
Help the Bees!
Find out how you can help the different bees that visit your garden and help to support bee populations.