Welcome to the classroom! We love to play, learn, create and sing together in the classroom, and we’d like to encourage our classroom friends to keep learning and playing at home once Caitie’s Classroom is over. We’ve put together activities and resources so the playing, learning, creating and singing doesn’t have to stop once Caitie says goodbye. Try these out at home or in your own classroom, and have fun!
In this episode of Caitie’s Classroom, we are exploring butterflies. Butterflies are incredible creatures! In this episode we get to see them up close during a field trip to the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory, we learn that butterfly wings are symmetrical and explore metamorphosis. We make our own butterfly crafts, and make butterfly hand puppets! Below are some ideas and tips on how to recreate the classroom fun at home or in the classroom, and to expand on it for even more fun and learning with butterflies!
Matching Butterfly Wings
Butterfly wings are symmetrical, that means they are the exact same on both sides. In the classroom we enforce this idea by matching butterfly wings together. We can tell if they are a match if they are symmetrical or not. You can do this at home too! You can make your own butterfly wings, or print our butterfly wings to use. Once you have your butterfly wings, cut them in half down the body so the wings are separated.
- Have your little ones mix up and then match the butterfly wings together.
- Turn the butterfly wings over to play a matching game of memory. Turn a card over and then another to find a match. If they are a match, pick them up! If not, turn them both back over and try again.
- Try hiding the butterfly wings around the room and have your little one go on a hunt to find them. Once they are found, match them up!
- Be sure to talk about the colors and shapes you see in the wings, and point out when something is symmetrical or not.
Symmetry in Butterfly Wings
In the classroom we make our own symmetrical butterfly wings using paint and paper! It is simple to do and helps demonstrate the meaning of symmetry.
- Take a piece of paper and fold it in half, then open it up. Squeeze blobs of paint onto one side of the piece of paper, and fold in half. Carefully press down so the paint transfers to the other side of the paper. Then open the paper to reveal a symmetrical painting! Once the painting is dried, you can cut out the shape of your butterfly wings. Be sure you fold the paper in half and cut both sides together to keep it perfectly symmetrical! You can add a butterfly body and antenna cut out from black construction paper.
- Find more details about butterfly symmetry and this activity.
Rock Scissors Paper
Our butterfly episode starts with a beautiful butterfly puppet flying around the classroom. We can make our own butterfly puppet using our hands! We use our hands to make a butterfly and much more with the song Rock Scissors Paper!
- How To Teach Rock Scissors Paper #1
- Sing Along With Tobee – Rock Scissors Paper
- Rock Scissors Paper #1 – Animated music video
- You can also find three other Super Simple versions of Rock Scissors Paper!
Metamorphosis
In the curiosity cupboard, we find the stages of metamorphosis and learn how a butterfly grows from a tiny egg, to a caterpillar, to a chrysalis, and emerges as a butterfly! You can explore the stages of metamorphosis at home too!
- Try drawing the four stages we explore in the classroom. Encourage your little one to try drawing them, or have them put them in order.
- Download and print the same illustrations of the butterfly’s life cycle from the classroom! Cut them out and place them in order. Try hiding them around the room first for extra fun.
- Try acting out the stages with your bodies!
- Try using a scarf, like Caitie does in the classroom, to show the stages. A scarf or any kind of small fabric will work – a napkin or t-shirt!
Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory
On our field trip to the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory, we are able to see butterflies emerge from their chrysalis. It’s an amazing thing to see!
- See if there is a Butterfly Conservatory or Butterfly Garden near you that you can visit.
- Look for butterflies outside.
- Try planting certain flowers and plants that butterflies like in your garden, like blooming flowers and milkweed, to attract them!
- Look for caterpillars in the ground – they will soon become butterflies. If you are able to find a caterpillar making a chrysalis, check back to see when the butterfly comes out. When the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, it is their birthday! You can make the butterfly a birthday card or sing happy birthday on that special day!
Butterfly Discovery Bin
Colored bowtie pasta looks a lot like butterflies! We made sensory material from bowtie pasta for our butterfly discovery bin.
- Learn how to make your own colorful bowtie sensory material!
- You can also use any kind of sensory material to fill the bin and hide the butterflies inside. If you don’t have toy butterflies, make some out of paper! Be sure to talk about the colors and shapes you see on the wings when you discover a butterfly.
- Make the whole world a discovery bin and search for butterflies outside!
More Butterfly Fun
Try our Clothespin Butterfly Craft.
We hope you have fun singing, playing, learning, and creating! We love to see photos of our friends having fun in the classroom and of their wonderful creations! You can share them with us a few different ways:
Worksheets (1)
Butterfly Life Cycle: The Stages Of Metamorphosis
Games (1)
