Learning with our New Caterpillars!

The last couple of weeks in preschool has seen the children take a great interest in taking care of our new caterpillars and watching them grow. The children assisted with putting their food into the pots and watched closely as the caterpillars were placed inside. Sophie said “The caterpillars are so tiny!” Alba added “They will grow into big caterpillars and be beautiful butterflies!” Jonny then said “First they need to make their cocoons.” The children have really enjoyed watching them grow over the last 2 weeks and have made sure to handle the pots very carefully whilst observing them. Isla said “This caterpillar has got really big!” Rowan replied “He’s nearly ready to make his cocoon.” The caterpillars are now getting ready to cocoon as they have began to climb to the top of their containers. The children are very excited and have been constantly discussing what happens next. Ari said “Its nearly time for them to turn into butterflies.” Tristan replied “I’m so excited!” 

The preschool children have had lots of fun using the caterpillars as inspiration for their play too. The children particularly enjoyed making their very own ‘very hungry caterpillars’ for our book of the month noticeboard. This involved sticking pom poms to lollipop sticks. Tom said “Mine is very hungry!” When Luna finished her caterpillar, she placed it on the drying rack and told her friends “My caterpillar is the biggest! It will be a big butterfly.” Story time has been filled with lots of requests for ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ which the children have had the opportunity to read in both English and French in small groups with Callie who joined the team recently and is french speaking. The children listened intently to Callie read in French, and were able to repeat lots of words back to Callie. The children also learnt to count to 5 in French, as well as the French names of all the foods that The Very Hungry Caterpillar snacks on in the story!