Shari Hassell
Butterflies-Themed Activities
Many schools will have a week focused on insects and one bug that always impresses preschoolers is the butterfly! It starts out as a little caterpillar that crawls on the ground, but then turns into something beautiful that flies. Here are some suggestions of butterfly-themed activities.
Raise Real Butterflies
At Connecticut Farms Church Nursery School they had a stellar time watching real caterpillars spin themselves into cocoons and then hatching into butterflies a short time later. Preschoolers will love seeing caterpillars transform into beautiful butterflies they then get to set free in the neighborhood. Watching what was once a little caterpillar fly away as a big butterfly is very fun.
Make Pretend Caterpillars
Caterpillars are of course very fuzzy, so preschoolers will have a great time making their own pretend caterpillars out of the kind of fuzzy balls often sold at craft stores. They can glue their little caterpillars to a paper leaf or tree limb and then the classroom can have a wall-display of all the caterpillars, "Crawling," around.
Craft Butterflies
If preschool students get to build their own pretend caterpillars it would only make sense they get to craft butterflies too! Kids can take a Popsicle stick to be the main body of their butterfly and then give it wings made out of anything from feathers, to fuzz, string, or whatever else they like!
It was a great week here at CFCNS! The children had fun watching caterpillars spin themselves into cocoons. The butterflies hatched in our Preschool class and the children had the opportunity to hold them and then let them into our neighborhood. It was very exciting to see them fly away!
Free Coloring Page
Color Caterpillars and Butterflies
If your preschool can't have actual bugs in it and crafting caterpillars or butterflies is a bit too complicated for your students, they can always have fun coloring these free templates of a caterpillar nd butterfly! Break-out the crayons, markers, or whatever else you want to be used and encourage your kids to make wild and colorful insects!
