Cycle of a Butterfly 10/7

Cycle of a Butterfly

Daily Question: Cc  Do you know what a chrysalis is? Before it becomes a butterfly, a caterpillar goes through a growth stage during which it is called a "chrysalis." On the surface it may not look like much is happening, but the delicate chrysalis process changes the fuzzy caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly with wings of intricate designs and intense colors.

Cc  Do you know what a cocoon is?

Answer comes from the below website "Butterflies hatch from a chrysalis, a life stage made of a hardened protein. A cocoon is spun from silk and surrounds the pupa of many moths.*"

Neat link: The Children's Butterfly Site

 Toys:  Cars and Track,"Cargo" ships (Pirates) and Castle toy, Busy Bugs (Pattern Puzzles) and (new) marble game.

Snack Time: 

We had fun listening to In the Tall, Tall Grass while we ate our snack time. We spotted the Caterpillar that showed up on every page!

We read some great books about the Cycle of a Butterfly and then heard a story about C the Caterpillar who cuts leave and chews them to gain strength to build a cocoon (chrysalis) and become a butterfly. The children make a cutting action with their fingers and say "cah, cah, cah."

Circle Time: Today we learned all about the cycle of a butterfly! Anna taught us that after caterpillars eat, they make a "sleeping bag," which we learned is called a cocoon. We studied an old chrysalis. 



We then read the Very Hungry Caterpillar. The first time we read it, we counted how many pieces of food the caterpillar ate each day. We also reviewed the days of the week!

The second time, we each got to stick the correct type and number of fruit on Mrs. Jessica's apron. We talked about how each day, the caterpillar ate one additional item.

Special Guest: Anna and Lena's Mom!

Mrs. Wurston came in and taught us about insects! We learned that the have 6 legs, while spiders have 8. She read a fun book called Bugs For Lunch where we learned what different animals eat bugs. Did you know that in some places, humans have bugs for lunch!?

She brought butterfly nets with her and we went out and tried to catch flying insects! We chased a moth, but no one managed to snatch him. 

Thank you Mrs. Winston!

Butterfly Books:
Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer by Susan Hood, Claudine Gevry, & Mara Van Fleet
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

I Love Bugs by Philemon Sturges (audio book)

In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming

A Child's First Library of Learning, Insect World (Time Life)
*Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin Jr. Ill. by Lois Ehlert (CD)

Other Books on Butterflies/Moths:
Butterfly Express; A Book About Life Cycles (Child's Word. Magic Castle Readers)
The Bug Book by Dr. Hugh Danks
Know-It-Alls: Butterflies by Darlene Freeman and Mike Maydak
How to Hide a Butterfly by Ruth Heller
I Wonder Where Butterflies Go In Winter, and Other Neat Facts About Insects (Golden Book)
Butterfly & Moth (Eyewitness Books) by Paul Whalley
Percival the Plain Little Caterpillar by Helen Brawley (Bright pictures and foil cut outs).

Songs:
Janeen Brady's song,"See Me Run."  

Extension Activities:  If you would like to, discover some of these things together at home. 

There are so many fun things to do with Butterflies--
Butterfly Handprints
Cycle of a Butterfly in pasta