Our local community center hosted a "Butterfly Science" class for Earth Day, put on by a local Montessori school, geared towards 2-5 year olds. None of the caterpillars had actually reached chrysalis stage, so it was more of a "caterpillar science" class, but of course my boys didn't know the difference. (Especially since I had merely billed it as "we're going to do some activities about caterpillars.")
It was remarkably well-done. I'm not sure if that's the product of the community center or the Montessori teachers who led the event, but we'll definitely be seeking out these sorts of things to do in the future! It helped, of course, that only half of the registered children showed up; with double the kids, there may have been a bit more chaos involved.
After singing a few Earth-day-themed songs as a group, the kids went in groups of 2 or 3 to each of five different stations.
Station 1: planting zinnia seeds
making a hole for the seed
scooping dirt
Station 2: coloring Earth Day bookmarks
Station 3: viewing caterpillars with a magnifying glass (the microscope was a too hard for little people)
Station 4: coloring clothespins to make this grape-filled butterfly
dipping a Q-tip in glue for the googly eyes
Station 5: a reading of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, complete with fabric foods to "feed" the caterpillar
Especially considering that the community center is approximately three minutes from our house, it was a perfect morning activity for my little brood! Thanks, Springfield Township!



Owen seems to be handling small motor skills quite well for such a little tyke!
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