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#2257. Caterpillar to Butterfly

Science, level: Pre-School
Posted Mon Feb 18 08:21:24 PST 2002 by Rita Stuart (stuartlrb@earthlink.net).
Brushy Elementary, Sallisaw USA
Materials Required: The book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", Long sheet of brown butcher paper, white paper, crayons
Activity Time: 30 minutes
Concepts Taught: Becomes aware of life cycles

Read the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Discuss the book with the children. Re-read the book and ask the children to help read the story. Tell them they are going to get a chance to feel what it would be like to be a caterpillar and become a beautiful butterfly. Put the large sheet of brown paper in the center of the circle. Ask for volunteers. The child will lie on the paper. Tell everyone the caterpillar is going to make a cocoon around himself. Ask if anyone can remember how long the caterpillar was in the cocoon. The child will then unroll or "burst" out of the cocoon and fly away.

My children love this activity. Everyone who wanted a turn to be the caterpillar told all of the children what color of butterfly they were and how beautiful they were. They loved flapping their arms and flying away.

After this activity, they used crayons to illustrate the story. I had some very creaive pictures. Most of the children drew the egg, the caterpillar, the caterpillar with a cocoon around himself, and a beautiful butterfly. This is a favorite!