Butterflies in Preschool

My two granddaughters are in preschool and of course, everything is new and exciting to them. They came home one day with egg carton caterpillars. I know most of us have made one of these in our lifetime, but to these two little girls, they were the best craft ever!

They told me that Mrs. Madison was raising flutterbies (butterflies) in their classroom, and soon they would hatch. Anticipation and excitement reigned until the day they came out of school telling everyone that one of the butterflies had hatched. However, much to their chagrin, Mrs. Madison was going to let it go. They just couldn't understand why or how their teacher could do that!

But, here is the good part! The girls made a cocoon out of a toilet paper cylinder by covering it with white cotton balls. Then the made a butterfly out of tissue paper and a small plastic bag tie. They put the butterfly inside the cocoon and then pretended to have the butterfly hatch! This was done over and over and over until the cocoon was no more. Luckily, I was able to get pictures before both were literally destroyed!

 Now, what does all of this have to do with Critters in the Classroom?  Well, based on a blog, Flapjack Products, there are numerous ways to use recycled products to make items.  Discover how to take old discarded materials and make them into new, useful, inexpensive products or tools for your classroom in a resource called Trash to Treasure.  It features clever ideas, fun and engaging mini-lessons as well as cute and easy to construct crafts all made from recycled or common, everyday items. And by reusing items, you are helping to reduce the amount that goes into landfills and possibly save the habitats of animals!

You can download a free eight page version of Trash to Treasure by clicking here.