Transformation from caterpillar to butterfly project

 This is such a cute project.  

We always get painted lady caterpillars in the spring and watch the transformation from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly; we then have a release party to set them free.  In our Maple room the children paint egg cartons to look like caterpillars.  Then as our real caterpillars transform into the chrysalis stage, we have them put their caterpillar inside a paper bag to be their chrysalis.  They stay in there a couple of weeks having on a bulletin board in the room.  Meanwhile the children paint "wings", we used eye droppers and folded paper to make them look symmetrical, but you can do any creative art process.  Then the fun part begins.  When the children are not there, we take their caterpillar out of the bag, add wings and put it back in the bag and back on the bulletin board.  Then we wait and when our real butterflies start to emerge we do something really fun.  We added to the paper bag on the end a piece of fishing line and when the children are sitting at circle time, one of the teachers is gently pulling on the fishing line, to shake the bag until one of the children notices the noise or movement.  Then we announce the butterflies are trying to emerge from their chrysalis and take the bags down.  The children open the paper bag (chrysalis) and find their butterfly inside!  They are beyond excited!  We tie this all in with various books about butterflies including The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

We're buggy about spring with caterpillar bulletin board

This is one of our favorite bulletin boards and each year we change it up a little.  This time we added our group project caterpillar to the grassy area.  

The lady bugs are paper bowls painted red with black dots added using corks.  The caterpillar is our "Very Hungry Caterpillar" and the kids painted paper plates green.  We get caterpillars each year and watch the transformation into butterflies.

Caterpillars Monday April 8, 2013

The caterpillars more than doubled in size since Friday!

Trinity Preschool Activities for Friday, April 5, 2013

All classes went out to the playground.

Our caterpillars came today!

April 5 caterpillars are about 1/2 inch long and quite thin.  Let's see what they look like on Monday!

Willow Room- MWF class
We read "Clara's caterpillar" by Pamela Duncan Edwards.

We asked the children "Do you have the letter P in your name?


We used caterpillar and butterfly stampers  in spring colors on light green paper.
We painted with rollers and yellow, red and blue paint at the easel.

We did "Little miss Muffet", "I like my hat", and "Hand dance" for music time.

We used a mirror and water to make a rainbow for a science experiment.

We did a rainbow soup felt rhyme and we looked at things that start with the letter P

Maple Room- morning class

We read "Does a kangaroo have a mother too? by Eric Carle

We worked on a special project for Mother's Day
We had flower shapes with paint at the easel.

We did "The April song", "Months song", "Freeze dance" with ribbons, "Tommy Thumb", "Jump Up turn around", and "There is a dog in school" for music today.

We did letter W on the dry erase boards.
We also read "From caterpillar to butterfly" by Deborah Helligman

Maple Room- afternoon class

We read "Clara Caterpillar" by Pamela Duncan Edwards

We painted egg cartons to make caterpillars.
We had flower shapes at the easel with paint.

We did The April song. 


Oak Room: Pre- K class

We read "Tickly Octopus" by Ruth Galloway and "Elephant cannot dance" by Mo Willems- another elephant and piggie book

We made fish- we cut a triangle shape from a paper plate and attached it to the other side of the plate to look like a tail.  We decorated them with colored tissue paper.

The triangle cut to make the mouth becomes the tail.  The background is the mural we painted yesterday.  We will add more fish and sea creatures as we make them.

We did a fish race game, magnetic fishing puzzle, and a what goes together puzzle today.

We did The Pirate song, Freeze dance and fish rhymes for music time.

We talked about words that start with the letter Z.

Stay & Play:

We read "Curious - you on your way! a CD story

We painted using primary colors on a large sheet of paper across the whole table.

We did The cool bear hunt, over in the meadow, and clap if you want ot for music time.

Luna Moth Cocoon and Painted Lady Caterpillars

Every year in the spring we get both caterpillars (which turn into Painted lady butterflies) and a Luna moth cocoon for each classroom to watch the transformation that takes place.  The caterpillars come so tiny- about 1/4 inch long and they grow so fast into big fat caterpillars and form a chrysalis..  The Luna Moth comes in a cocoon and we just wait and watch until suddenly we have a beautiful large green moth.  Note: moths come out of cocoons, and butterflies come out of chrysalis.  The children will learn about the similarities and differences between the two during this great opportunity to observe it as it is happening. 

Using children's art to decorate rooms

At Trinity Preschool we like to showcase the children's art in our rooms and hallways. This helps the children have a sense of pride and they understand that what they create has value. We prefer to do this than to cover our walls with ready made stuff.

In the spring we talk about butterflies and spring; including rain, flowers, rainbows, worms, etc. The children made the butterflies by using an eye dropper to drip watercolors onto a coffee filter. After they dried, we just pinched them together with a clothespin and it makes a great butterfly. We added them to a bulletin board with some tissue paper lilacs and some rain clouds.

On the other bulletin board we had the children paint paper plates green and that became the body of the caterpillar. we added a cut head and some big eyes too. We also put the children's butterflies flying all around on a great sunny day.

These are a great way to brighten the room on these rainy spring days!

Is your child facinated by the butterflies?

http://earthsbirthday.org/butterflies/

Copy and paste the above link to go the the Earthsbirthday webiste. They have a video showing the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly in rapid time. They also have Frequently asked questions and activities to do with children.

So if your child is asking a lot of questions or seems very interested, this is how you can extend the learning with some fun.