We have visitors in our classroom this week….the Caterpillars!!!! We are so excited to have 5 live caterpillars. We observed that they were very small on Monday, and noticed they have already grown much bigger by Friday. We read From Caterpillar to Butterfly and learned about the life cycle of a butterfly. Maybe they will have spun their chrysalises when we return on Monday!! We found models of the life cycle in our sensory table along with pasta shapes to represent the eggs (tiny shells), caterpillars (rotini), chrysalis (medium shells), and butterflies (bowties). We sorted them and had fun hiding them among the flowers. Of course, we also read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Everyone helped tell the story as they clipped pictures onto the caterpillar to go along with the book (sneaking some fine motor work in with the clips….heehee).
We enjoyed making many butterfly art projects this week, too. We colored coffee filters and sprayed them, then added a clothespin body to turn them into butterflies for our bulletin boards. We made scratch art designed butterflies. We practiced following lines with markers to make designs on butterfly wings. We even tried rolling playdough snakes and bending them into caterpillar & butterfly shapes. But the most fun of all was squirting paint from bottles onto wings and then folding the butterfly in half to make a symmetrical butterfly!!
So many big scientific words were learned this week!!! Symmetry, Metamorphosis, Chrysalis, Molting. Our Ladybugs were fascinated! We used a mirror to talk about symmetry some more- holding up half a butterfly to see the other half appear in the mirror. Miss Jenn also used a balloon to demonstrate how static electricity can move things. We each rubbed it on our hair and then saw how the static energy could make the tissue paper butterfly wings (and our hair 😆) move! Magic!!!!
April certainly is living up to it’s reputation as a rainy month! We had to find some ways to move and get our wiggles out inside this week. Our butterfly theme was the perfect inspiration. We had so much fun dancing with our scarf wings or butterflies on a stick. We listened for the matching colors in the song and then danced into the center of the circle with our friends. We also acted out the caterpillar’s metamorphosis as we crawled through a tunnel like a caterpillar, spun around on the dot to make our chrysalis, and flapped our scarf wings as we became beautiful butterflies!!!
We are looking forward to exploring & learning about other types of insects next week. If anyone finds a bug they’d like to trap and bring to show, we have the perfect little bug box to keep it in for the day!
We celebrated three more 4 year olds this week!! Happy Birthday to Cailan, Eden and Autumn!!!
REMINDERS:
Wednesday & Thursday (4/17 & 18) are Picture Day!!! We will be taking a class photo, too.
Next Sunday is Preschool Sunday!!! Please arrive at 8:40 on Sunday, April 21. Parents, please bring your child to the Disciple room (where we have music with Ms. Vicki) to meet the teachers and me. Then adults may go have a seat in the Sanctuary. The children will sing early in the 9:00 service and then the teachers will take the Ladybugs, Ducks, & Whales across to the fellowship hall for some fun activities. They will take the Frogs to the nursery/Frog room. Please mark your calendar because we need ALL the beautiful little voices to make our joyful song! The service only lasts about an hour.
CCP FELLOWSHIP NIGHT - Let’s have dinner together at Town Hall Grill on Tuesday, April 23, anytime between 5:00-7:00pm. Please come! Town Hall Grill is giving CCP a portion of the proceeds for that night, so we are calling this a Fellowship FUNdraiser! ;-)
SAVE THE DATE- The Ladybugs will be celebrating their parents with a special Pastries with Parents morning on Monday, May 6 & Tuesday, May 7th. We invite mom and/or dad to come grab a pastry & take a cute photo with your child at drop off. Your child will have a special gift for you to take home! This is our time to show our love for you as Mother’s Day & Father’s Day approach. ❤️
Have a wonderful SUNNY weekend with your Ladybug!
Miss Sue, Miss Jenn, & Miss Kelsi