Bees, Butterflies, And Beyond

We just couldn't get enough of the bees and butterflies theme! After we came back from the Golden Week holiday, we still had a few more butterfly days to complete while we waited for the May box to arrive. That gave us time to catch up on unfinished projects, finish our MGT little journals, and do some extension activities as well.

The open-ended watercolor butterfly portraits were a favorite, especially for the teacher! I couldn't pass up an opportunity to be creative with my kiddos. One of my students was quick to identify the butterfly I painted as the Peacock Butterfly, thanks to the picture on the daily topic poster.

I also let them draw bees and butterflies on the white board. Some of them used magnet shapes to trace, and others drew free hand. There were also several abstract portraits of "Kairu sensei" skipping through the flowers.

They used the shape connectors to make caterpillars and flowers for the butterflies to land on. The sticky butterfly toy was great for a little game with the vocabulary builder cards.

I really wanted to do another art project that went beyond the curriculum, and I had seen an idea on Pinterest using wooden spoons and tissue paper to make butterflies. I remembered that we had some little wooden spoons from the Christmas activity pack that we never had time to use, so I pulled them out and let the kids design their own butterflies as a free choice activity. The boys decided they wanted to make caterpillars. They got so creative, and they were so excited about making them! It was a fun sensory project with lots of different textures.

We also did a story extension, in which they chose one of the flowers from "One Busy Bee" and cut out the appropriate number and shape of petals to make it. When they were finished gluing the pieces on, they wrote the corresponding number on the paper, as well.

When we finally made it outside to the park for recess (lots of rainy days), we found some black and white, and tiny yellow butterflies fluttering in and out of the gate. They are such fascinating creatures, and provide endless opportunities for observation and learning.