Johnny goes to our town’s preschool to receive speech therapy and extra support learning how to communicate (a skill that eludes him, much of the time). I’ve been very impressed, not only by the progress he has made, but also with the activities at his play-centered preschool.
This caterpillar is my favorite of the many cute crafts he has brought home. To make it, you need:
- three cotton balls
- paint (they used tempera, I think)
- one coffee filter
- two googley eyes
- one clothes pin
- glue
First, glue the three cotton balls to the top of the clothes pin. Paint them green, and set aside. Take the coffee filter, draw on it with markers, and then spray with water. Let everything dry overnight. The next day, attach googley eyes. Now you have a little caterpillar! To turn your caterpillar into a butterfly, glue the now-dry coffee filter to the bottom of the clothes pin. Wrap the wings around the body of the butterfly, and slide it into an empty toilet paper roll.
You now have a butterfly inside its cocoon, just waiting to make its entrance into the world!
Most of the crafting my kids do is open-ended, so I never know how their creations are going to turn out. But I love directed crafts like this one, that teach a hands-on lesson!
You can make this craft even more interactive by sliding the wings into the middle of the clothespin instead of gluing them on, so that you can change the butterfly back into a caterpillar and recreate the entire transformation.
Do you have a favorite spring learning craft?
Also sharing with Fun Sparks
That is a great learning craft!
Visit Sandy … 11 Months
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That is so cool! I love this craft!
Visit Jen … teacher appreciation week
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I love the picture of him peeking out of his cocoon.
Visit Ticia … Yankee Doodle
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I am glad that Johnny’s school works out so well for him. This craft is very neat.
Visit Natalie … Science Play
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This is ADORABLE!!!
Visit Jennifer … Frugal Teacher Appreciation Picture Frame
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Cute craft! This would go great with Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar- we read that book daily at our house!
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What a great idea, and Johnny did a SUPER job!! Love the idea of recreating it over and over again too. :-)
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This is fabulous on so many levels!
Visit Elisa | blissfulE … observations from my 40 day fast from fiction
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WONDERFUL idea! Very creative! Definitely saving it to use!
Kerri
Visit Kerri … Llama Llama Red Pajama Craft
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Fabulous craft! My children will love it.
Visit Almost Unschoolers … Happy Mothers Day
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That is very cute!
Visit Phyllis … Neighborhood Flower Nature Walk- by James
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What a creative craft…so cute!
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This is really so lovely!
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That is so cute! I love that the final product leaves the little ones with a toy.
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I love the little butterfly peeking out of the cocoon.
My youngest son’s favorite Eric Carle book right now is Have You Seen My Cat? We made our own book with Eric Carle Style illustrations to celebrate Eric Carle’s Birthday. Hope you can come check it out:
http://www.happybirthdayauthor.com/2011/06/happy-birthday-eric-carle-june-25.html
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That is so much fun… and easy. Excellent.
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Very cute! :)
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Cute! I know my kids would enjoy this.
Visit Darcel {The Mahogany Way} … All Year Round Blog Carnival: Spring
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How lovely, and so cool that you made it a cocoon! Did you see our caterpillars this week as well?
Thanks for linking to science sparks Fun Sparks!
Visit science Sparks … Twin Talk
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maryanne Reply:
February 20th, 2012 at 9:53 am
I loved your caterpillars! That’s why I linked up the coccoon =)
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Just wanted to let you know I featured your cute caterpillar here:
http://sunnydaytodaymama.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/all-year-round-week-three-7-spring.html
It’s a great craft! :)
Visit sunnymama … All Year Round week four: 7 Spring Crafts for All Ages
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maryanne Reply:
March 17th, 2012 at 8:08 pm
Thank you!!! :)
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That is a great idea I really like that. My youngest is learning about this term coming too.
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Very cute! Great idea! I followed you here from All Year Round SPRING Blog Carnival. My latest spring post is here: http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2012/04/wonderfull-full-of-wonder-wednesday_18.html
Visit Hannah … Wonderfull (Full of Wonder) Wednesday
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