Bat Resources for Teachers and Educators

Bats are often misunderstood, but they are fascinating creatures. Teach your students to see bat species in a new light! Join us to celebrate bats and learn about how essential bats are to our environment. Discover fascinating facts, uncover common myths and examine BC bat specimens up close. All while keeping to the new BC curriculum.

BC Bat Edu-Kit Activity Guide

In cooperation with our partners, we have created the BC Bat Edu-Kit Activity Guide. It is a hand-on activity guide with over 35 hands-on activities and curriculum links for Grade K – 12 students. It was developed by scientists and nature interpreters and reviewed by teachers. This activity guide highlights the 15 different bat species that are found in British Columbia along with their unique behaviours and adaptations. Choose appropriate activities for your students that explore ‘big ideas’ including;

• Life cycles
• Habitats
• Ecosystems
• Food webs
• The five senses
• Organ systems
• Migration
• Evolution
• And much more!

Download the BC Bat Edu-Kit Activity Guide here:

• BC Bat Edu-Kit Activity Guide – Virtual version (PDF)
• BC Bat Edu-Kit Activity Guide – Printing version (High Resolution PDF)

BC Bat Edu-Kits

We have also created four BC Bat Edu-Kits intended to be used in either a classroom or a non-formal classroom setting. 

The BC Bat Edu-Kits consists of:

• BC Bat Edu-Kit Activity Guide
• BC Bat Edu-Kit Craft Binder
• A tote bag with props for the activities (including bat puppets, bat costume, games, posters, books, and more)
• A data stick with digital files of activity guide, crafts binder, and a bat PowerPoint presentation.

BC Bat Edu-Kits are available to be signed out at the following locations.
Please contact your nearest location for details.

• Okanagan Heritage Museum (Kelowna): jgarner@kelownamuseums.ca
• Regional District of Central Okanagan EECO, 2363A Springfield Road, Kelowna: alison.urness@rdco.com
• Penticton Museum: chandra.Wong@penticton.ca
• Summerland Secondary School
• Peachland BEEPS

Bats Out of the Darkness Museum Exhibit

Bonus educational experience for your students! Visit the Bats Out of the Darkness museum exhibit when it is in your area! The exhibition celebrates bats and serves as a reminder of how essential they are to the environment.  The goal of the traveling bat exhibit is to deliver educational facts to the general public about the bats in British Columbia.  For more information, contact the Kelowna Museum.  

Bat Citizen Science for Kids

Visit NatureKids BC for additional resources and activities for kids.  Download some fun Bat Id cards, learn how to be a bat detective, and how to help bats by becoming a bat champion.

Thank you to our partners:

• Bat Education & Ecological Protection Society
• BC Community Bat Program
• BC Government
• En’owkin Centre
• Kelowna Museum Society
• NatureKids BC
• Okanagan Community Bat Program
• Okanagan Nation Alliance
• Penticton Museum & Archives (City of Penticton)
• Regional District of Central Okanagan—Environmental Education Centre for the Okanagan

Thanks to funding from:

• Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Forest Enhancement Society of British Columbia
• Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation
• Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk
• Regional District of the Okanagan Similkameen—South Okanagan Conservation Fund

We hope teachers and educators will help us get these key messages out to students:

• Bats are interesting.
• Bats are important.
• Bats are in trouble.
• Bats need our help.

 The activities and resources we have gathered will hopefully make it easier for more bat heroes to arm themselves in order to protect and celebrate these amazing creatures.