Our PreSchool Blog

Last week we learned all about the butterfly life cycle in preschool prep! The students were able to watch a life cycle video, complete an activity where they put all of the cycle steps in order, helped to act out the stages of the life cycle and finally, listen to a reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar! What a fun day!

We learned that the first step of the life cycle is for the mother butterfly to lay eggs on a leaf. Next, a baby caterpillar emerges from its egg. (We learned that the baby caterpillar feeds on its egg shell before eating anything else!) We had some volunteers act out these stages 🙂

After the caterpillar can’t eat anymore and grows bigger, it builds a cocoon around itself called a chrysalis.  It grows and changes in this chrysalis for about 15 days! We wrapped some of our friends in a pretend chrysalis to act out this step!

When the caterpillar is ready, it breaks free from its chrysalis and is no longer a caterpillar, but a beautiful butterfly!

On Monday during our whole group time, I had the children watch a video of a butterfly coming out of its cocoon. After the video we discussed different aspects of the video, and I was able to elaborate a little more to build their knowledge on this subject. The children were so fascinated they wanted to watch it twice! The link to the video we watched is posted here:

http://youtu.be/R5QH3bGF4uU

In small groups we worked on our alphabet book:

V is for Vase, W is for watermelon, and X is for X-ray.

The children used their fine motor skills to draw and glue.

This month the Toddlers are learning about things that fly. Last week during group time we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert. During art, the children strengthened their fine motor skills by squeezing watercolor filled eyedroppers on paper towels. They enjoyed observing the colors mesh together and turn into new colors. The project was finished off with a clothespin with eyes. Out came a beautiful butterfly, just like the book!

We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar today during group time.  Through a SmartBoard video clip, we watched a butterfly go through the entire life cycle!  We then had the chance to watch The Very Hungry Caterpillar come to life on our very own SmartBoard!  If you would like to check out the video, click on the photo of the book below.  Then, we tried our hand at Eric Carle’s illustrating technique and created our own butterfly.

The toddlers were busy coloring coffee filters then adding water to create beautiful butterflies!

New little insects and grass were added to the sensory bins!

Butterfly play dough mats added to the fun!

Earth Day – a tissue paper craft, watercolor poem, and nature walk scavenger hunt helped to celebrate our world!

The toddlers have been watering and giving love to the grass cups!

Letter x is for xylophone

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Letter Hop!

Live Cooking Demo on Zoom:  Rice Krispie Treats

Spring has arrived, and we have started learning about bugs and plant life! We read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and retold the story with pictures cards.  We then acted out the butterfly life cycle!

Butterfly Life Cycle Part 1: The mama butterfly lays her egg on a leaf.

Butterfly Life Cycle Part 2: A caterpillar emerges from the egg and is out searching for food.

Butterfly Life Cycle Part 3: The caterpillar wraps itself in a cocoon or chrysalis.

Butterfly Life Cycle Part 4: After a couple weeks, the caterpillar breaks from the cocoon and….

…turns into a beautiful butterfly!

Acting out the butterfly life cycle!