Learning the Life Cycle of Butterflies!

The preschool children have been observing the life cycle of a caterpillar to a butterfly over the last two weeks and have shown a large amount of interest. The children have been learning about the four stages of the process, starting off as an egg, turning in to the larva (caterpillar), forming a cocoon and then eventually a butterfly. When the caterpillars first arrived, the children helped to separate the food in to individual pots where the caterpillars would be placed in to for them to be able to start the cocoon process. Tilly had seen the caterpillars in the box when they arrived and curiously asked, “But why are they caterpillars and not eggs?”. Phoebe explained to Tilly that, “The eggs have hatched already and now they are caterpillars!”. The children observed patiently over the next few days, waiting for the caterpillars to start cocooning. They also took part in many activities including making their own stories of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, making 3D butterflies using various materials including paper mache, paper plates and shredded paper and enjoyed using their bodies to move in many ways to pretend to be a caterpillar and butterfly. 

Otto noticed when he came in to nursery on Monday morning that all of the caterpillars had cocooned, he called Joseph over to start and then one by one called a few more friends over, “Be careful not to shake the net, the cocoons might fall down!”. The children silently stared at the net of cocoons, almost in amazement. Joseph asked, “Why are they smaller than the caterpillars?” Otto suggested, “Maybe they have squeezed their legs together to be cosy?”, to which Basti reassured him, “Yes, that’s right”. A few more days went by before the first butterfly emerged and whilst Arlo was putting some art work away in his tray below the butterflies, he very excitedly called out, “Everyone, a butterfly has come out!”, and within a few hours lots more butterflies had hatched from their cocoons which was the focus of the next group time. Margot was very kind to chop some of her orange at snack time, putting it aside and asked, “Can I put it in the net for the butterflies to eat?”

When it was time to release the butterflies, Gabriel was so excited to be able to hold the butterfly on his hand, letting out a little giggle, he said to Sadie, “That tickled my hand”. Emmy gently held her hand out and also giggled when the butterfly walked across the back of her hand. Marlow and Isla clapped and waved as the butterflies flew off and when seeing one had landed on a flower in the garden, a small group of the children crouched down, holding out their hands and Ethan let out a big smile when the butterfly crawled back on to his hand.