We ended our school week with two days of discovering insects and learning about the life cycle of the butterfly. The weather was sunny, windy and cool, so we spent time playing on the play set in our backyard, flying a kite and going on scooter rides. On Friday, we spread our wings and “Lived Generously” by putting some used books on our front porch to share with neighbors and by sneaking out of the house to deliver surprises to the dedicated teachers in my daughter’s life.

The Butterfly Song, (If I Were a Butterfly)– When I was in college I taught kindergarten Sunday School at my church. My class loved singing  The Butterfly Song and requested it when we went to music class with Mrs. Becker. Some twenty-seven years later, I have found memories of singing the song and remember all of the motions Mrs. Becker taught us. I was thrilled when my daughter’s teacher sang it with her class during virtual circle time this month. I have taught my daughter all three verses but you can leave out some of them to make the song shorter. CLICK HERE to listen to the song and CLICK HERE to go to the official The Butterfly Song website.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar– Perhaps the most beloved children’s book in my collection, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, turned 51 years old this year! I first shared the book with my daughter when she was a few days old, so when it came to studying caterpillars and butterflies, we just had to read it multiple times! We also enjoyed watching Eric Carle’s 1993 animated short, based on the book. When I taught kindergarten I used to show it to my students. (on VHS tape) CLICK HERE to watch the film. We enjoyed making some caterpillar art by dipping a cup in paint and adding additional detail with markers.

We also made a caterpillar out of a paper towel tube and fed him the corresponding colored tiles while retelling the story. We used the cards from this webiste in our retelling and added dice and a color spinner to invent our own math game!

Butterfly Symmetry Art– After folding a piece of construction paper in half and cutting out a caterpillar shape, we decorated it to look like a caterpillar, opened it up and it unveiled a butterfly! We talked about symmetry and painted on one side of the wings, folding the paper in half to discover upon opening it back up, that the other side looked exactly the same! My daughter really enjoyed this activity so we made some extras to give to her Nana and Maw Maw for Mother’s Day. CLICK HERE to view a demonstration.