Our classroom butterflies have emerged from their chrysalis‘ this week so we spent a few days celebrating with some butterfly fun! When I was a teacher, the last months of the school year were always my favorite because my students were comfortable with me and the classroom and they had grown academically, allowing for our class to engage in some exciting projects. Experiencing these butterfly activities with my daughter took me back to those days in the classroom.

Butterfly Books– On a rainy day this week my daughter and I snuggled together and read butterfly books. We enjoyed Where Does the Butterfly Go When it Rains? by May Garelick and the book prompted some on-line research to find the answer. We also enjoyed reading Where Butterflies Grow by Joanne Ryder and Waiting For Wings  by Louis Ehlert. I found a website called , The Butterfly Lady, that describes many wonderful butterfly books to share with your little one. We read several on the list. CLICK HERE to view the list. The Scholastic Learn At Home resources are fantastic! CLICK HERE to view the one on butterflies!

Butterfly Snack– This is a snack I enjoyed making with my kindergarten students at our butterfly release party. Back then you could “cook” at school and it was rare to find a student with a peanut allergy. My daughter and I improvised and used cream cheese spread instead of peanut butter and veggie straws instead of chow mein noodles. CLICK HERE for a copy of the recipe and a few additional butterfly resources.

Colorful Butterflies– We used coffee filters, washable markers, a pipe cleaner and a clothespin to create colorful butterflies! First we decorated the coffee filters with the washable markers. Then we folded the coffee filters in half and then in half a second time. We dipped the tip in a cup of water and watched as the water was absorbed by the coffee filter and spread the colors across the filter creating a colorful masterpiece! When the filter was dry, we gathered it in the center to create two wings, clipped it with a clothespin and added a pipe cleaner antennae! CLICK HERE for directions to a similar project.

Butterfly Party– You can’t have a party without some party favors and a colorful costume. My daughter used her fairy wings and put them on so she would look like a butterfly. Then she acted like a butterfly by sipping sweet nectar with her proboscis. A proboscis is a butterfly’s skinny straw like mouth. It curls its proboscis, or tongue, up like the party blowout shown here and when it gets ready to sip some sweet nectar it unfolds its proboscis and sips the nectar like we would use a straw. We simulated this by drinking orange juice with a straw and decorating party blowouts to look like a butterfly; uncurling the butterfly’s proboscis by blowing into the party favor.