Flutter Fantasy

Having given up all hope that the temperatures will ever drop below 90 here in Virginia, we braved the heat and headed to the "Flutter Fantasy" exhibit at our local botanical garden. Here the girls could walk amongst the butterflies...

and hunt for caterpillars.

E was thrilled to be able to hold the creepy-crawlies.

And A enjoyed making one of her own!

This Pipe Cleaner Caterpillar craft is simple, quick, and doesn't require a lot of supplies. Simple give each child three pipe cleaners and a pencil. Wrap two of the pipe cleaners around the pencil tightly to form the caterpillars body. Coil the third pipe cleaner around the end of the pencil, leaving about an inch at the end. Stick the straight end inside the caterpillar body to create its antennae.

Our favorite butterfly books:
(Click on the title to read my review and see other craft ideas.)

Waiting for Wings

Lois Ehlert

 

Butterfly Alphabet

Kjell B Sandved

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Eric Carle

I'm linking up to:
- stART @ A Mommy's Adventures

Favorite Pre-K Crafts and Books

I spent this morning at E's pre-K graduation! My baby is all grown up and ready for Kindergarten. Seeing as I'm in a nostalgic frame of mind, I thought I'd share with you a few of E's recent school crafts and her book recommendations. (BTW, did you notice how I'm in the picture? I'm trying, ladies!)

Paper Bag Bumblebee

I thought this was such a clever use for a paper bag! The teachers pre-painted the bags yellow and then had the kids add the black stripes. The back of the bag is taped into a pointy stinger, and the kids added construction paper wings, sticker eyes, and pipe cleaner antennae.

Eric Carle Artwork

These turned out beautifully and were a wonderful lesson in cooperation. The children painted on large sheets of paper, filling the page with color. Once they were dry, the teacher spread the pages across the table and let each child choose two coordinating colors. They then traced a design on the pages and had the children cut out the shapes and glue them to a piece of paper. I wish I had taken pictures of the other kids' artwork as well - they were all different but equally impressive.

Butterfly Life-cycle in Pasta

I thought this was such a clever way of teaching kids the life-cycle of a butterfly. A lima bean symbolizes the egg... spiral pasta is the caterpillar... a small pasta shell represents the chrysalis... and bowtie pasta finishes the cycle as the butterfly. The kids painted each piece and even added glitter to jazz it up.

E's Book Recommendations:

I asked E for her three favorite books from pre-K and here are her recommendations in her own words.

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse by Leo Lionni

The story is about a mouse (Alexander) that meets a wind-up mouse (Willy). The wind-up mouse heard of a magic lizard that could make Alexander a wind-up mouse like Willy. Then Alexander went into the blackberry bushes and there appeared a bright colored lizard. Alexander asked the lizard if he could make Alexander into a wind-up mouse. The lizard said "bring me a purple pebble." At last, tired and hungry, Alexander ran all the way home. There in a box was all the children's toys. Willy said that it was Annie's birthday. They decided to throw away the old toys. And then Alexander ran and then came back and there he saw right there a purple pebble right near the box. Then he rushed all the way to the blackberry bushes and gave the pebble to the lizard. The Lizard said "what is your wish?" Alexander stopped what he was in the middle of what he was going to say. Then he said "turn Willy into a mouse like me." And then a flash of light the purple pebble was gone. He rushed back to his hole and then he heard a squeak - Willy was turned into a mouse! And they lived happily ever after.

I liked it because they were friends at the end.

A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle

The hermit crab saw that his shell was very small. He wanted a new shell. Then he found a new shell. He put things on his shell. Then it got smaller again one day. Then another crab that was a girl looked at the crab who was a boy. The crab said "would you like to live in my shell?" She said yes. The end.

I liked the pictures. It looked like Eric Carle.




Going to the Zoo by Tom Paxton

It was a very busy day and two children and a daddy was going to go to the zoo and watch all the animals all day. They looked at a bear too. And then they returned home at night. In the morning they rushed to their mommy. And they were going to the zoo with their mommy. The end.

I liked it because it had a song, a book, and a tape!





I'm linking up to:
- ABC & 123's Show and Tell

Glow Stick Butterflies

Who doesn't love glow sticks? Along with fruit roll-ups and ordering from the grown-up menu, glow sticks were a rare treat growing up. So when I saw packs of glowsticks in Target's dollar spot, I didn't hesitate to toss them in the cart. Inspired by Martha's glow stick spiders, I helped the girls create glow stick butterflies (because one spider craft in a month is enough). To make your own butterflies, you'll need four glow sticks, two connectors, and several pipe cleaners.

1. Using a connector, attach two glow sticks.

2. Loop one end of the glow stick up to the connector and attach with a rubber band.

3. Loop the other end up and push through a couple strands of the rubber band to secure.

4. Repeat with two more glow sticks.

5. Hold the two sets of wings together and secure by wrapping a pipe cleaner around them both. You may need to use two pipe cleaners to fully secure.

6. Thread a shorter pipe cleaner through the body of the butterfly and twist off to create antennae.

7. Turn out the lights and let those butterflies flutter!

Be careful - in the wrong hands they become attack-butterflies!

I think these would be beautiful hanging from trees during a backyard party or dangling from the ceiling during a sleepover! Ours preferred to dance and fly around the room. They're now in the freezer hopefully to be resurrected tomorrow night.

The Listening Walk (Miss Spider) by David Kirk

While this craft could go along with a number of books - including the The Very Quiet Cricket (think "luna moth") - this was the book I chose. I'm not a huge Miss Spider fan, but I can't deny that the computer generated illustrations are amazing. In this story, Wiggle can't sleep from fear of all the scary noises he hears outside. His mom takes him on a nighttime listening walk to place a face to all the noises. As he learns what makes each of the sounds, his fears are soothed and his view of the nighttime forest is altered.

It's obviously a good one for kids who are entering the "scared of the dark" phase, but the charming rhymes and engaging illustrations should entertain any preschooler.

I'm linking up to:
- stART @ A Mommy's Adventure
- SOYS @ Fireflies & Jellybeans

Butterfly Wings

The Book
Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert

Are you familiar with illustrator and author Ehlert? You are if you've ever read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Children love her distinctive, colorful illustrations, and I have to admit, so do I! In Waiting for Wings, three different eggs hatch to become different types of caterpillars and then transform into butterflies. The book is oversized and contains partial pages inside that match the larger image of lush foliage. As you turn these smaller pages, you watch the caterpillars make their journey from caterpillar to colorful butterfly. The back of the book contains information on a few types of butterflies and how to recognize them as caterpillars. It also suggests how to start your own butterfly garden.

The Craft - MYO Stickers

I got this idea from Monarch Magic, which is a nice science and activity book about monarch butterflies that school-aged children would enjoy. We created butterfly stickers, but you could create any stickers you wish, just cut out the shape of your choice.


What you'll need:

1. paper
2. scissors
3. markers
4. flavored gelatin

The steps:

1. Fold a paper in half and draw a half-butterfly shape (or a B if you want you want to continue practicing your B's).
   
2. Cut - or have your child cut - along the line and open to reveal your butterfly shape.
   
3. Color with markers
4. Mix 1 tablespoon of flavored gelatin with 1 tablespoon of boiling water until dissolved. Allow to cool but not harden. Brush onto the back of the paper.
5. Once the gelatin has dried, you have a stamp-like sticker ready to be licked and sticked!
   

B is for Butterfly

The Books

Butterfly Alphabet by Kjell B Sandved

Artist Sandved created this stunning book by micro-photographing butterflies. Amazingly, he discovered the entire alphabet hidden inside 26 different types of butterfly wings. One side of each page displays a large picture of the letter. On the other side is a sweet rhyme about butterflies, featuring a word that begins with that letter (except for X... one always has to cheat with X). Accompanying the rhyme is a picture of the whole butterfly, allowing your child to search within its wings for the letter. Letter recognition, colors, shapes, rhymes, search and find - there's so much to do and learn in this one book!


Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly! by Jane O'connor

Can you believe this is my first Fancy Nancy book? Little Page is just old enough now to enjoy this vivacious little girl's exploits. Bonjour, Butterfly is one of the newest in the series and tells how Nancy helps her friend Bree prepare for her butterfly birthday party. Just before the party, however, her mother remembers that her grandparents' 50th anniversary is that same day. Nancy is upset at having to miss Bree's party until she realizes how much fun her grandparents' party can be.

I was impressed with the book - the writing was good and the story engaging. The illustrations, of course, are enchanting (which is a fancy word for charming). I'm quite sure this will not be our last adventure with Fancy Nancy!

The Craft - A B-utiful Butterfly

Help your child learn to write the letter B in this simple butterfly craft!

1. Fold a piece of paper in half. Using paint and a brush, help your child draw an uppercase B on the fold.
   


2. While the paint is still wet, fold the paper back in half and press down firmly.
   
   


3. When the paint is dry, have your child decorate the butterfly wings with watercolor paints.
   
   


4. When the paint is completely dry cut (or let your child cut) around the butterfly. Glue to a piece of construction paper then add antennae and a smiley face. Display somewhere prominent for the world to see!
   

Very Hungry Caterpillars

I took the girls today to our local botanical gardens to walk through their new butterfly house. Caterpillars crawled across our path, chrysalises hung above our heads, and everywhere we looked we saw fluttering butterflies. It was the perfect way to start the theme for the week: caterpillars and butterflies!



The Book - The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

How can I possibly do a caterpillar week without featuring The Very Hungry Caterpillar? I honestly feel this may be the best children's story of all time. It has all the elements: counting, days of the week, colors, and grouping of like objects. On top of this it teaches the life cycle of a caterpillar and introduces young readers to the "coming of age" tale. Even turning the pages is a learning experience, as little hands watch the pages grow from little to big and feel the cut-out "bites" in each one.

As a preschooler, this was by far my favorite book. It was not (*gasp!*) a part of our own library, so I would drag my mother into the school whenever I could to show her this unique book with the holes in the pages. Now I get to share the book with my own daughters who also adore Carle's simple story and colorful illustrations.

The Craft - A Sock Caterpillar

Isn't he cute? And so easy to make! Here's how...

What you'll need:

1. 1 sock
   Use an orphaned sock or one whose partner is too holey.
   
2. embroidery thread or yarn
3. 1 pipe cleaner
4. fiberfill
   
5. 2 buttons

The steps:

1. Stuff your sock with the fiberfill, working it around the heel so it looks like a sausage instead of a foot. (This part is fun for the kids to help with.)
2. Tie the end closed with some embroidery thread.
3. Tie off segments of the sock with the embroidery thread, starting at the heel to conceal it. I found tying the thread once and then wrapping it around again and double knotting worked the best.
4. Sew two buttons for the eyes.
5. Push a pipe cleaner through the head and twist around a pencil to create the antennae. Make sure you fold over the ends of the pipe cleaner so they are not pointy.
6. Hand over to your child to enjoy!