LATEST STORIES
Magical Metamorphosis
As the children read the classic story “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, they were intrigued with questions and curiosity of the metamorphosis of a butterfly. This sparked the teachers to plant swan plants just outside our fence so the children could discover the answer themselves.
It was not long before we noticed three very tiny caterpillars munching away at the leaf's. Each day we revisited the swan plant to check on the caterpillars. The teachers and children looked back through books to understand how these changes would occur to our little caterpillar. We shared ideas of how we thought it can happen. An explanation of how butterflies go through a growing process was provided after we saw the Life Cycle of a Butterfly via YouTube and saw pictures to discover that at each stage of growth its appearance was different.
We re read the “very hungry caterpillar” but the children and I soon discovered that the message was all about overeating and indulging in to much unhealthly food which gave the caterpillar a stomach ache. We discussed the virtue of self-control which would help with preventing this scenario from ever happening for the caterpillar or ourselves.
Throughout this investigation, the children explored and learned about the life cycle of a caterpillar as they not only looked at its developing stages in the outdoors but they were able to translate their understandings into their art and music. At mat time, we went deeper into understanding the life cycle of a butterfly through music; singing the songs “Fuzzy Wuzzy Caterpillar” and "little caterpillar" together.
Our tamariki acted out different stages in the life cycle, adding to their understanding of how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. All our children have shown incredible protectiveness towards these tiny living creatures as the caterpillars grow and change and we now eagerly await our first transformation from cocoon to butterfly. This interest in the life cycle of the butterfly is a clear example of children exploring their curiosities about the world around them.
There’s more to come – watch this space for updates on our butterfly and caterpillar adventures!