Changing Butterfly Life Cycle Craft

The younger girls and I made a butterfly life cycle craft, inspired by Mama Smiles, this week, after reading Dorling Kindersley's See How They Grow, Butterfly book.

First, the girls made caterpillars, by gluing pompoms to clothespins...

...with google eyes, and small strips of tissue paper for antennae.

While those dried, the girls worked on making chrysalises by gluing green tissue paper squares onto toilet paper rolls.

When they were completely covered, I stapled one end closed.

Finally, we made wings for their butterflies by pinching rectangles of tissue paper, and taping them in the middle, to fit in the center of the clothes pins.

So, with the addition of a tiny pompom "egg", we could discuss the butterfly life cycle.

Or, by folding the wings up, and stuffing them into the toilet paper rolls, with the tape end up, we could act out how the butterfly wraps itself in the chrysalis shell...

...and then emerges, after a few weeks, with it's wings crumpled, and wet...

...to sun itself, and gradually dry, and straighten out it's wings...

...ready to fly.

It's great to be a homeschooler.