Butterflies

     Our butterfly unit both this and last year has kept all of our curious learners engaged and amazed! We were busy learning all about butterflies here at school through various activities. We hope you enjoy taking a look at our butterfly journey here at SMART START.

     One of the best ways for preschoolers to learn is to immerse themselves in a good book. Whether in a group, shared with a friend or on their own, books are traditionally a class favorite! We value reading time here at school and surround our students with an abundance of literature. For our butterfly units, we filled each book case ,set up display tables and had accessible materials in each of our classrooms. Young learners learned many interesting facts about butterflies some being:  

• What flowers butterflies like
• drink nectar from the flowers
• proboscis is the name for a butterfly's tongue
• they taste with their feet
• a group of butterflies is called a flutter
• butterflies are insects and have 6 legs
• life cycle stages

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2019  

         

  

                                             

     The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle served as the perfect book for our butterfly units. This classic story celebrates this year it's 50th anniversary! 

Budding Entomologists listened intently and could hardly wait to recite the next part of the story each time we flipped a page. While this childhood favorite offers an insight into the life of a caterpillar and butterfly, there are other basic concepts that we focused on as well.  Classmates counted the food items that the caterpillar ate each day and practiced the order of days in a week.  Having the Spanish version of this book was a fun way to fit in some Spanish to enhance their vocabulary and comprehension of the language. 

     Pupils played "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" board game. This is a creative rendition of the classic game "Chutes and Ladders". SMART START friends had lots of fun playing this challenging activity together as a team and did an excellent job taking turns, encouraging one another and even learned some facts, too! 
                                                                   2018

                                                                      2019
            

  
     Last year, Kinsley, one of our students, was so kind and shared her Monarch Butterfly costume with the class. Peers were delighted as they pretended to fly around like a beautiful butterfly. We offered additional butterfly costumes for our animated bunch as dress-up and dramatic play is always a sought out activity. Pretend play offers endless benefits for this age group! Social and emotional development, imitation, motor skills, problem solving, empathy and vocabulary building to name a few. Thank you for sharing your costume, Kinsley!

     This year, we viewed the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" animated narration on our white board. The children loved seeing one of their favorite stories come to life on a large screen. Viewing this provided students with a visual representation of metamorphosis. In addition, classical music played throughout the narration which enhances memory, promotes creativity, reduces stress and more. 

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                                                                             2019

  As part of our science-based lesson, our class witnessed the butterfly lifecycle here at school. Students watched as tiny baby caterpillars grew into large adult caterpillars,  that transformed into chrysalises and then finally emerged into painted lady butterflies! This project allowed the subject matter to be studied up close with magnifying glasses and binoculars. All were fascinated as the caterpillars changed each day until they fulfilled metamorphosis. 

                                                               2018

                                                                  2019

    Arts and Crafts as well were incorporated into this unit of study. Last year, the children decorated plastic jars which served as a home for our school butterflies. Handy Helpers had the opportunity to work alongside Miss Francesca and drill a hole in the jar by using a power drill. This year, artists  constructed their very own caterpillar using recyclable materials. Each used an assortment of art media for their insect creation. 

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                                                                    2019 

     Our SMART START  group assisted in releasing the butterflies into their natural habitat. Last year, each child received a butterfly that they brought home and released into their yard. This year, as a class we decided to release them into our outdoor classroom. All took turns holding and saying goodbye to their beautiful insects! Earlier this Spring, we planted milkweed and other plants that attract butterflies. We are looking forward to having a visit here at school from our newly fluttering friends!

                                                                     2018

2019

                                       

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