Now that spring has arrived there are so many things to do in nature and with nature. It is an exciting time of year for littles, especially those who love all things nature. My little is certainly one who is intrigued by anything that has to do with nature. She also loves butterflies and wanted to follow and catch butterflies. What a wonderful opportunity this lead to with learning about the butterfly life cycle and all things butterfly.
In the spring the first thing we love to do is to start nature walks and looking for all the little creatures we can find. Our neighborhood has wonderful nature trails to walk and hunt for wonderful springtime creatures. We always stop by snake rocks and turtle bridge to look for snakes, turtles, and frogs. And she always gets side tracked by the insects that fly by, but her all time favorite insect is the butterfly.
Since she is so intrigued by the butterfly, I decided we were going to learn about butterflies and the butterfly life cycle.
What we Learned and other Engaging Activities
Math
- We learned how to make tallies and count them by ones and fives to see how many days it took for the caterpillars to go into their chrysalis and again for how many days they were in their chrysalis. The tally marks helped to measure time (days) and be patient for the changes to occur, because she had something to do. Here is a cute song to help: (sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)
Tally marks, tally marks
Help us count how many
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 across
Helps us count by fives
- We also worked on learning to recognize and say the numbers to 10. She already counts to 20, but being able to recognize the numbers is not always so strong. So we hand number line walks and stepped on each number as we said it. Then I called out numbers and she put butterflies on the correct number. Next, we did a butterfly number hunt. She had to find the butterflies hidden in the room and tell me the number on it. Finally, we counted the number of eggs onto each butterfly for one to one correspondence. Since she wanted to do “paperwork”, we also did a butterfly dot-to-dot.
- When our caterpillars arrived my little noticed that their were 5 caterpillars. So we also used 5 frames to find all the different ways we can make the number 5. Then she use counters to create the problems we had with the 5 frames.
- With our math we also discussed the word symmetry. We learned about how a butterfly has 6 legs (3 on each side), 2 antenna (1 on each side), and 4 wings (2 on each side). Then we learned how we have symmetry too. Next, we went on a symmetry hunt to see how many things are symmetrical. Finally, we made a symmetrical butterfly. Look in the crafts for the symmetrical butterfly.
Science
- Observation: We learned that with many science activities we have to observe and find even the smallest change and we learned how we can record our observation data. This really helped teach patience, because we had to look very closely and record even the smallest change.
- Life Cycle: We used our books to read about the life cycle of the butterfly. Then we used a life cycle model to retell the lifecycle of the butterfly. Finally, we made a life cycle model. Look for directions in the crafts section.
- Habitat and Food: We learned from our books where butterflies live and that different butterflies live in different places. We also discovered what they like to eat so we can let our butterflies go in a place that will have plenty of food for them as well as places to lay their eggs.
Literacy
- Writing: My little is 3 so we had a dictated writing and then we read it together. She told me the life cycle of the butterfly and I recorded exactly what she said. Then she read it with me. When she decided it was correct we said her writing was finished.
- Letters and Phonics: We worked on the letters B, C, and E. These were not the only letters we did during this time, but they were our focus. We hunted for the letters in the books we were reading, we found things that started with their sounds, and we practiced writing them very big.
- Reading: We read all kinds of books about butterflies. We read nonfiction, fiction, and realistic fiction books. We worked on comprehension by retelling the stories and having my little “read” them to me. I love listening to her “read” books.
Crafts
- Butterfly Life Cycle:
- Materials: paper plate, leaf, white rice, a small stick, pipe cleaner, cotton ball, butterfly image or construction paper to make a butterfly, markers or crayons, glue
- Directions: Draw lines to split into 4 large pie slices. In one pie piece glue the leaf and the rice on the leaf for the eggs. Then draw an arrow to the next slice to the right. In this slice use the pipe cleaner to make a caterpillar and glue it down, follow with an arrow to the next slice to the right. Next, glue a stick to this slice and use the cotton ball to make a chrysalis and draw the next arrow. Finally, glue the butterfly to the to the last slice and draw the final arrow to the eggs. Then allow them to add grass or leaves and other details to the slice
- Caterpillar:
- Materials: popsicle stick, googly eyes, brown or green pom-poms, glue
- Directions: glue the pom-poms to the popsicle stick and small googly eyes to one end of the caterpillar
- Symmetry Butterfly:
- Materials: several colors of paint, 8×10 sheet of white construction paper, scissors
- Directions: fold the paper in half, put drops of different colors of paint on one half, then fold the other half over and rub all over the the closed paper, open it up and see the symmetry, finally cut out around the paint to create a butterfly
Butterfly:
- Materials: toilet paper roll, paint, 2 colors of construction paper, pipe cleaner, googly eyes, paint brush, glue, scissors, crayons or markers
- Directions: paint the toilet paper roll the color the child chooses, then trace their hand twice on each color of construction paper and cut out and allow them to decorate the hands, glue the hands and googly eyes to the toilet paper roll, make the pipe cleaner into two antenna and glue to the toilet paper roll.
Here are some more engaging springtime activities for you to enjoy with your little.
Books
I love to end every post with a book list. I encourage you to read the following books with your children as you explore the world of butterflies and patience. Please share books you enjoy reading with your littles about butterflies and patience.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by: Eric Carle
Ten Little Caterpillars by: Bill Martin
Ten Magic Butterflies by: Danica McKellar
Clara Caterpillar by: Pamela Duncan Edwards (Patience)
The Caterpillar and the Polliwog by: Jack Kent (Patience)
The Very Impatient Caterpillar by: Ross Burach
A Butterfly is Patient by: Dianna Hutts Aston
Waiting for Wings by: Louis Elhert
Monarch Butterfly by: Gail Gibbons
From Caterpillar to Butterfly by: Debra Hilligman
