Tag: nature education

B is for Butterfly

Posted on by ginamcmanig

This chalkboard drawing was from years ago when we started homeschooling. As weather warms and I begin planting, I am reminded of butterflies. We happened to find caterpillars in our garden on our carrot greens this year in Autumn which sparked this experience.

We rigged up a house for the caterpillars with some tulle and embroidery hoops and a bowl. We added some sticks and some carrot tops which they were found on for food. It was fun and exciting to check on them daily.
We of course made a study out of the experience. It did not take long for the caterpillars to form their chrysalises. It was really fun to watch first hand.
Soon the transformation was complete and we found these beautiful Black Swallowtail butterflies where the chrysalises had been.
The butterflies were slow moving at first. I can imagine they must be exhausted after such a transformation!
As they emerged, we gently let them crawl onto our hands to release them. They were not very interested in flying away. I imagine they were tired and taking in their new shape as well as their new surroundings. This allowed us to fully engage in the beauty of the process.
This gentle creature allowed us the honor of observing this beautiful experience.
Such a beautiful creature I can share my garden with <3


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Some of the materials from our home library that add to this educational observation:

Mary Azarian is one of my favorite children’s book illustrators. I especially love A Farmer’s Alphabet.

Another of our favorite illustrators is Gyo Fujikawa. A to Z Picture Book is lovely.

We love all the books Dianna Hutts Aston & Sylvia Long have in this series for young children. A Butterfly is Patient is a great book for this topic.

For older children Maryjo Koch has some awesome books. Dragonfly Beetle Butterfly Bee is a great book.

Here is a nice matching game we use. I did add the names of the butterflies on the cards as the game uses males and females to match which was too hard for a young child in my opinion. Butterfly Wings: A Matching Game.

Nature Anatomy is a nice resource.

I like these old Simon & Schuster books: Children’s Guide to Insects and Spiders. I like the illustrations.

Here are a couple extras that we have just added to our library. We have not read these yet. These are from The Good & The Beautiful homeschool curriculum company. We use some of their curriculum.

I hope I have inspired you to learn more about butterflies with your loved ones! Happy Exploring!