Read Waiting for Wings
by Lois Elhert, have the children recreate Lois Elherts fabulous paper
collage techniques to make their own pictures of butterflies and
caterpillars. Have them dictate a story to you about what their
caterpillar would do while it was waiting for wings.
Activities
Read
the poem Caterpillar and let the kids do actions.
Literacy: Use
the poem in a pocket chart and have the kids predict the rhyming words
that will fill in the last word of each stanza. *Older kids maybe able
to put the words creeping, crawl, climbing, in also, maybe with picture
prompts on the word cards to help them.
Read the
poem Color Butterfliesgive each child a different colored
butterfly you have cut from felt. Tell them to hold up their
butterfly when it is mentioned and then place it on the felt board.
After the poem is over count how many butterflies are on the felt board.
Songs, Poems, &
Fingerplays
Caterpillar
Caterpillar creeping,
Caterpillar crawl.
Caterpillar climbing
All along the wall.
Caterpillar spinning,
Caterpillar snug.
Caterpillar changing,
What have you become? by Beverly Qualheim
Color Butterflies
The first to come to the garden bed
Is a lovely butterfly of brilliant red.
Then in comes another and that makes two,
Fly right in, my friend of blue.
"The garden is fine, the best I've
seen,"
Says the butterfly of spring time green.
Our garden needs a sunshiny fellow,
Fly in, butterfly with wings of yellow.
Little friend of purple, fly in too,
This garden is waiting for a color like you.
Orange, orange you've waited so long,
Fly right in where you belong.
Butterflies, butterflies you're such a
sight,
Flying in together-a springtime delight!
by Susan M. Paprock
Butterfly
Counting Hunt: Each child gets a butterfly net
or a bug jar and everyone goes around the room looking for butterflies.
(Ahead of time hide butterfly pictures or plastic butterflies all over the
room) The kids can count how many bugs they have found. *For
older kids turn it into an alphabet activity
by programming paper butterflies with the letters of the alphabet, then
challenge the kids to find the entire butterfly alphabet.
Butterfly
Match-Up: Played like concentration for the
older kids or lay them all face up for younger kids. Purchase or
make cards. To make cards draw or use stickers to make matching
cards. Laminate or cover with contact paper to make them last
longer.
Butterfly
Patterns
Use the butterfly cards from Butterfly match up and make different
patterns for the kids to finish. For example line up a purple
butterfly a red butterfly a purple butterfly and ask the kids to pick what
butterfly would come next. Other patterns could be by size or other
features depending on the kind of butterfly pictures used.*** The book We
Learn About Spring has a patterning worksheet in it.
Tissue Paper Butterfly
Supplies: (for each butterfly) three rectangle pieces of tissue
paper each one a little smaller then the first (to get a layered look).
A fuzzy pipe cleaner, two wiggly eyes, and glue.
Directions: Place tissue papers one on top of the other starting
with the largest, then med., then smallest. Pinch the center
together and bend a pipe cleaner around it to make a butterfly body.
Glue the wiggly eyes on toward the top of the butterfly body. (you could
attach a piece of fishing line to hang it from or maybe put a magnet on
it)
Egg Carton Caterpillars
Supplies: Egg cartons, paint/paint brushes, wiggly eyes, pipe
cleaners, glue, and scissors.
Directions: Ask kids how many sections their caterpillar should have
three or four. Let them help you count out the sections and cut
their caterpillar out of the egg carton. Let the kids paint their
caterpillar how ever they would wish. When they are dry help them
glue eyes on and poke holes through the egg carton to add legs and
antennae with pipe cleaners.
Collage Butterflies
Supplies: Tissue paper scraps in all kinds of colors, a butterfly
outline drawn on tag board, and glue.
Directions: Have kids glue tissue paper all over the butterfly
picture...show them the pictures in Eric Carle's book The Very Hungry
Caterpillar and talk about how he makes his pictures with tissue
paper.
Paint Blob Butterflies
Supplies: Different colored paints. An outline drawing of a
butterfly on a large white piece of paper.
Directions: Have kids blob paint on only one side of the butterfly.
Then fold the picture in half and squish down. Open it up to see a
lovely butterfly that looks the same on each wing. (opt. have kids
cut out their butterflies after they dry or precut them before they paint) Hint: don't let the
kids blob too much paint on or it will take forever to dry.
Craft:
Butterfly Pins
Supplies: Craft foam in different colors, stick back pins,
craft/tacky glue, wiggly eyes, wicky sticks, and a scissors.
Directions: Cut butterfly shapes out of the craft foam and various
small sized pieces that will go on the wings. Kids can glue the
little pieces of foam on to their butterfly shapes to decorate the wings
and then glue on eyes and wikki stick antennae, when the glue is dry the
kids can stick a sticky back pin onto their butterfly.
Entomologists are the
scientists that study bugs. Set up an area with books, lab coats
magnifiers, microscopes, child safe tweezers, bug containers, note books,
etc. For the kids to pretend they are studying the butterflies. You can
find all kinds of plastic bugs and butterflies at...
Click the link to go there and shop! Type
"butterfly" in the search box! Your purchases help support this
site! Thanks!
Play some
bouncy classical music and have the children dance to it with streamers.
Encourage them to move as if they were butterflies bouncing from flower to
flower.
*We also had
the children create construction paper butterflies that they painted with
foam paint. We them attached them to wooden dowels. Then we would have
half the kids wear flower headbands we had found at a party supply store
and the other kids would dance with the butterflies and carefully land
them on their flower friends head as if they were landing to drink some
nectar. The kids loved to do this musical activity!
Show the kids some of the butterflies
common to your area. You can contact your local DNR for this
information and sometimes they may have pictures or other items to send to
you. Ask the kids which butterflies they have seen. Ask them
what butterflies eat, how? (Nectar, straw like mouth) Why
don't birds eat butterflies? ( they taste bad!)
...coloring pages to download and loads of
info on butterflies
Literacy:
Butterfly Life Cycle Chart
Supplies: Pictures of the 4 life cycles of a butterfly, egg,
caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly. Markers, glue and scissors you will
need also.
Directions: Children can color and cut out the stages of a butterfly
and paste them in order on a poster. Then label each picture with
the appropriate stage. Another option would be to make a book with
the pictures.
Butterfly Sugar Cookies
Let kids decorate them with different colored frosting!
Caterpillar Food...
let kids sample some of the foods the caterpillar ate in The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
Butterfly Toast
Cut toast out in the shape of a butterfly (use a butterfly cookie cutter)
and let kids spread jelly on it or paint it with milk colored with food
coloring before it is toasted. This makes vibrant colors on the bread that
look great after toasting, and it is completely edible!
Have the children paint
their hands using all kind of colors of tempera or finger paint. Then have
them press their handprints down one at a time with their finger spread
out with the palms touching in the middle to resemble the wings of a
butterfly. Cut around them and hang them on the Bulletin Board under the
title, "Soaring to New Heights at Preschool !" (or use your
program name)
Other Resources
Oriental
Trader has all kinds of Butterfly Novelties to use with your
butterfly/caterpillar theme, from craft supplies, to plastic caterpillars
to use as counters, to butterfly decorations you can use around the
classroom. They even have life cycle kit.
Read 
by Lois Elhert, have the children recreate Lois Elherts fabulous paper
collage techniques to make their own pictures of butterflies and
caterpillars. Have them dictate a story to you about what their
caterpillar would do while it was waiting for wings.
