Lesson of the Day 16
Published on: July 16, 2011
Butterflies
...b, b, b the butterfly sound, B makes a butterfly sound!
Children and adults are fascinated by the beauty and life of butterflies. Young children can watch them and understand the beauty and change in nature and life. A wonderful hands-on way to bring this experience home is with the Insect Lore Butterfly Garden Kit, which allows children to observe the entire metamorphosis process up close.
If you approach them slowly you can catch them with a photograph.
Life of a Butterfly
Butterflies begin their life when a female butterfly lays her egg on a leaf.
The egg grows and matures.
A new caterpillar forms and eats all the time.
They have strong mandibles to eat leaves and plants.
The caterpillar matures and forms a hard outer shell.
A fully formed butterfly emerges from the crysalis.
Here is a printout of the butterfly life cycle. To complement the printout, Montessori Butterfly Life Cycle Figurines are a fantastic tactile tool that helps children explore each stage of metamorphosis with their hands.
Make beautiful reading cards or use them as prompts to write a story. For more ideas on using life cycle materials, check out our Life Cycle Reading Cards article.
Caterpillar Art
Materials
cardboard egg carton-cut into rows to represent a caterpillar
Paint-caterpillars are almost any color or design so this is a fun creative project
Sponge brushes or bristle paint brushes
Pipe cleaners or bag twisty for antennae
Method
Show your child how to paint the caterpillar using a bristle or sponge brush.
Caterpillars are various colors and patterns, so it is wonderful to encourage your children to be creative.
Dry the your child's masterpiece and add the antennae.
* Decorate your caterpillar with paper punch holes, glitter and pieces of recycled gift wrapping. This is a fun cut and glue activity.
Butterfly Art
Ink blot butterfly with pipe cleaner antenna
Materials
Plain paper that will absorb paint easily
Primary color finger paints
Scissors
Pipe cleaners or similar material for antennae.
Method
Fold the paper in half. Open paper into a whole piece again. Near the center of the paper place several different colors next to each other. I like to use primary colors when mixed together make new colors. Fold in half again and rub the outside (paint is on the inside of the fold) of the paper. Open and dry. See how the colors have mixed together to make new colors. Fold in half again and trace a butterfly pattern and cut into a beautiful butterfly. Attach antennae.
If you don't like to draw free hand, here are some beautiful Butterfly Templates from first palette.com.
Butterfly Movement Dance
Collect colorful scarves, add some melodious music to encourage your children to dance.
If you are musical, sing "Row. row your boat" tune to our butterfly song while dancing.
b,b,b the butterfly dance
b, b, b, the butterfly
dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing
b, the butterfly dance!
Use the scarves as wings. Move them up and down like a butterfly wing and gently dance.
Dancing helps with coordination and movement. Also, it helps children to visualize their space by not bumping into other dancers or objects.
*Use the phonetic sound of b for this song
Helpful ideas for you
How to Make a Butterfly Garden
After you make a bug barn go through your garden and look for a crysalis. Keep the stem too so that the crysalis hangs properly
Check the cocoon everyday to make sure you can see the butterfly emerge from it's case. Release the butterfly in your garden.
You might also enjoy:
Life Cycle of the Swallowtail Butterfly – A beautiful closer look at one specific butterfly species and its metamorphosis journey.
Lesson of the Day 15 – Catch up on the previous lesson in our series.
Lesson of the Day 17 – Continue learning with the next lesson in our series.