B is for Butterfly

• Read “Butterfly Butterfly: A Book of Colors” by Petr Horacek … we love this book. The illustrations are bright and fun. Our favorite part is the pop-out butterfly on the last page. Available here.

• Read “Butterfly Park” by Elly MacKay …
1. This author/illustrator is one of my new favorites. Her illustrations are unique and beautiful.
2. In this story, a girl moves to a new house right next to a park called “Butterfly Park”.  There are no butterflies until the girl, a few neighbors and a few flowers welcome the butterflies. Book available here.

• Do ‘B’ journal page
  1. Write ‘Bb’ on the next open journal page.
  2. Write (or have your preschooler write) ‘Butterfly’. We find the word on one of our books and my 4-year-old copies the letters.
  3. Practice writing ‘B’ and ‘b’.
  4. Add butterfly stickers to the page. Several available here.
  5. Or draw the left half of a simple butterfly. Have your preschooler practice writing ‘Bs’ by making the wings for the right half. I tell my preschooler “Down. Bump. Bump.”

• Butterfly Colors Song & Game … we have to do this one every year. My kids all love this song and game. We played this over and over.

  

1. PREP:
   • Print this butterfly page on red, orange, yellow, green, purple and pink paper.
   • Laminate and cut out each butterfly. I use this laminator and absolutely love it.
2. Watch the “Butterfly Colors” video (above) and enjoy the song.
3. Watch the song again. This time, have the kids choose the color that matches the butterfly in the song and stick it to the wall (I have pieces of tape rolled up ready to go.)
4. We played it a 2nd time and moved the butterflies from the wall to the back door. Then a 3rd time from the back door to the TV stand. They loved it because they had to run back and forth grabbing the right colors. Got a little energy out

• Butterfly Coloring Page
  1. Print your favorite butterfly coloring page. We used this one.
  2. Color!
  3. Or get fancy and use glitter or sparkly pens.

 

• Read “Are You a Butterfly?” by Judy Allen & Tudor Humphries … a more detailed explanation of the butterfly cycle but still very simple to read. Available here.
• Read “Butterfly Garden” by Margaret McNamara … read along with a class learning the life cycle of a butterfly. Simple and cute. Available here.

• Play Butterfly Life Cycle Game … this is a colorful and simple animation about the life cycle of a butterfly.
  1. Click here to go to play “Butterfly Life Cycle” hosted by TurtleDiary.com
  2. The life cycle animation is about 1½ minutes long. There are two simple games following.
  3. TIP: The first game is a little challenging for a preschooler, but is still a great teaching tool!

     Ask, which word has only 3 letters? Which word starts with a ‘C’ and ends with an ‘R’? Which word starts with the /C/ sound? What do you think this last word says? (The last word is right next to the picture of the butterfly.)

  4. I love the last game. The pictures are simple and it’s a great sequencing activity for the kids.

• Life Cycle Game
  1. Print these simple, adorable and FREE butterfly life cycle cards from TheMailbox.com. I did have to register with my email to be able to print.
  2. Color & cut apart.
  3. TIP: I colored one set ahead of time to play with. Then gave my preschooler her own set to color after we played the game.
  4. Sequence activity: Have the kids put the life cycle cards in order.
  5. Game: Have the kids cover their eyes. Remove one of the cards and see if the kids can guess which card is missing! Repeat.

 

• Butterfly Hat
  1. Cut a piece of colorful cardstock into half (lengthwise) and tape together.
  2. Glue the newly colored life cycle cards in order to the paper headband.
  3. Curl two pipe cleaners and tape to the headband for butterfly antennae.
  4. Fit the headband to your preschooler’s head and tape.
  5. TIP: Add a pair of dollar store wings and have fun flying around like a butterfly.

• Butterfly Snacks
  1. Grab your favorite snack (skittles, M&Ms, even a snack-sized baggie filled with grapes or crackers
  2. Clip a clothespin in the middle of the package to make the body and butterfly wings.
  3. Bend a pipe cleaner in half and clip inside the clothespin (I added a little hot glue)
  4. Add googly eyes. I love hot glue because it’s strong and quick.
  5. Have your preschooler color the clothespin with crayons or markers.

B is for Butterfly

• Read “Butterfly Butterfly: A Book of Colors” by Petr Horacek … this is a new book for us. We love it! A little girl finds a butterfly in her garden. The next day, she can’t find it, but she does find other colorful things. The last page is a beautiful fluttery butterfly pop-up.

• Read “Are You a Butterfly?” by Judy Allen & Tudor Humphries … this is a fun, simple, non-fiction book. I love it because the kids can really interact with it.
  1. Ask the kids to find the letter B’s on the cover.
  2. There are lots of opportunities to interact with the book:
     • Do their parents look like a butterfly’s parents?
     • Pretend to eat a leaf
     • Use their feelers (two fingers pointed up) to “smell” flowers
     • Use their long tongue to drink nectar
     • Fly around the room!

• Stickers on B page
  1. Draw a large B on a piece of paper.
     • I write it for my younger kids and they trace it with a pencil or crayon. My older preschoolers can write it themselves.
  2. Stick butterfly stickers all over the page. I got these at Michael’s. Several butterfly stickers available here.
  3. Draw half of a butterfly (the left half). Show your kids how to finish the butterfly by writing a B on the right side.

• Watch “The Butterfly Colors Song” … my kids love this song. It really is cute.
  1. Cut out a simple red, green, yellow, pink, purple, orange butterfly shape. I used this one. Click the image below to print on colored paper.
  2. Place them on the floor.
  3. Roll up six pieces of tape and stick them to the wall or a door.
  4. Play the song again and have the kids pick up the matching color and stick it to a piece of tape.
  5. Point to each color during the chorus.

• Make B Butterflies
  1. Fold a piece of white paper in half vertically (hotdog-style).
  2. Help the kids draw a large B on the fold of the paper. I always tell my kids “Down. Bump. Bump.” Whatever works
  3. Let them cut out their B.
  4. Unfold to see their white butterfly!
  5. Use several colors of paint (we use Crayola Washable Kids Paints) to paint one half of the butterfly.
  6. Fold the butterfly in half again and press down.
  7. Open it again to see the beautiful, colorful, symmetrical butterfly!
  8. Let dry and add eyes, antennae, stickers or other decorations
• Pony Bead Butterfly … I loved this idea from Where Imagination Grows! We didn’t get to this, but will pull it out again on a rainy day! So cute.

• Simple Butterfly Lunch
  1. Make your favorite sandwich and cut it into a circle. Then cut the circle in half.
  2. Use a cheese stick for the body. Turn the sandwich halves to make wings. Add pretzel stick antennae!
  3. Let the kids add grapes or raisins to decorate the wings.
  4. Cut out a simple flower shape (from paper or foam paper) and cut a hole in the center. Place it on top of a cup of juice (nectar). Place a straw in the hole and drink (just like a butterfly uses a proboscis to drink!) Thank you First Grade Shenanigans for the fun idea!

• Make Butterfly Treats … make these for a treat or do what we did and use them for treats after the following story.
  1. Decorate a clothespin.
  2. Use glue to attach googly eyes and pipe cleaner antennae. I use hot glue because it dries fast and is strong. Just be very careful when your little ones are helping you!
  3. Clip the butterfly clothespin onto a bag of treats (M&Ms, Skittles, fruit snacks, etc.)
  4. Several other healthy and not-so-healthy butterfly treats found here.
• Family Home Evening Idea … every Monday is our family home evening. We do a song, prayer, short lesson, and treat with our family. This story and activity worked perfectly with our butterfly day.
  1. Prep: Make a butterfly finger puppet. Either with felt or print one and laminate it. Attach a loop to the back (for your finger). Hide the butterfly somewhere in the room.
  2. Read the story “How to Catch a Butterfly” by Marilyn Wood. Found here. You can also download an audio version on the right-hand side under “download”.
  3. TIP: Sometimes, I draw a few pictures to go along with the story (think stick people!) It helps the kids to pay attention
  4. Give each of the kids a butterfly to hold and show you how to treat it reverently.
  5. Tell the kids to look around the room for the hidden butterfly and fold their arms once they spot it.
  6. Ask one of the kids to get the butterfly and everyone else to cup their hands like they’re holding water.
  7. Have the butterfly fly over and “sip” from each cupped hand. If they’re not being reverent, the butterfly will get scared and fly away.

Holes

• Read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle. Let the kids feel the holes with their fingers.
• Punch holes with a hole puncher. They come in all sorts of shapes now!
• Lacing Cards ... Cut the front panel from your kids favorite cereal boxes or fruit snacks. Hole punch around the edges or around one of the pictures (a large letter, spongebob, etc). Cut several lengths of yarn and wrap tape around one end to prevent fraying. Tie the other end to one of the holes. Let the kids lace the cards through the holes.
• Cut a circle shape from heavy-duty aluminum foil. Give the kids a golf tee and a toy hammer. Place the foil circle on a piece of sturdy foam and tap the golf tee to make a hole. Tie a loop through one of the holes to hang in the window.

snack idea: bagels with holes in the middle and Swiss cheese!