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Butterfly life cycle
I noticed some butterfly eggs and caterpillars on a swan plant by the hedges outside our early learning centre. I brought some branches in and put them in a vase and left it on the kaiako resource shelf on the deck.
Today, as we sat at the picnic table, I showed the swan plant to our tamariki and talked about caterpillars and butterflies. They watched and listened very curiously and eagerly and repeated some of the words such as “leaf”, “pillar”, “egg”, “water” and “butterfly”. They were fascinated to see tiny butterfly eggs and caterpillars. Looking at their interest and curiosity, I encouraged them to come outside to see the caterpillar’s progress and transformation on a daily bases. Our tamariki observed the process of caterpillars turning into chrysalis and then emerging as butterflies. This learning journey involved daily observation, watching videos on butterfly’s life cycle, reading ‘The very hungry caterpillar’ book and singing the ‘Fuzzy wuzzy caterpillar’ song.
So our tamariki can revisit their learning, I laminated some photos and created a visual resource. To extend children's learning and development, I will continue to share more information and resources related to butterfly's life cycle by reading books and watching more videos. We will also explore other insects, bugs, arachnids and many more.