Today we studied the letter “B” by talking about butterflies. I read the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The children loved this book. The colorful pictures tell the life cycle of a butterfly as well as help children learn the days of the week.
After our story I gave each child a half sheet of white paper and a few paint colors of their choice. Once the paint was dry I cut each paper into a wing shape.
Then, the children glued a lowercase “b” to a piece of paper. They also glued the painted wings, a wiggly eye, and antennae to the “b”. I found a similar idea for this activity at Totally Tots, but made a few modifications.
During free play time I set out a Very Hungry Caterpillar 3-D Deluxe Play Set
For our snack today I had put some raisins, Cheerios, and pretzels in a zippered baggie. I pinched the middle and added a clothespin. I originally saw this idea in a Family Fun magazine, but I didn’t decorate the clothespins like they did.
After our snack I let the children decorate their clothespins with markers. Then they picked out a page from a magazine and I helped them fan fold the pages. They clipped the magazine pages and a pipe cleaner to create these butterflies.
Last year I was able to collect some Monarch caterpillars and the children got to witness the life cycle first hand. Unfortunately, I was unable to do so this year. However, I did get some good pictures last year if you are interested in taking a look. Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly
We also made a little book about the life cycle of a butterfly. I had the pages out of order as the children colored them. They did really well at arranging them in the correct order. I have had a copy of the mini book for a long time and don’t have a source.
Finally, we finished our morning by heading outside to observe some butterflies. The children even pretended to flap their “wings” like butterflies. 🙂
