Becoming Butterflies: Which came first- the butterfly or the egg?

With spring in full swing, there are signs and sightings of butterflies in their various stages of life everywhere...little hands and eyes are delighted by their finds and ready to learn about this amazing process of transformation that these creatures experience.

Children will remember the magic of metamorphosis forever after a Becoming Butterfly Relay:

1. Create an enclosure of some sort (a play tent, a tent of blankets, etc.) to be the egg.  Send your little butterflies-to-be inside, wearing a t-shirt that they can shed as caterpillars. Encourage the cycle to begin, chanting, 'hatch egg, hatch!'
2. Exiting the egg, encourage the little larva to 'crawl caterpillar, crawl' as they make their way towards the next stage of metamorphosis. Another fun addition are 'bug glasses' that allow children to see like some insects.
3. A play tunnel, or sleeping bag, or even a closet can serve as the chrysalis.  Remind children of the voracious appetite of caterpillars (often they eat their shedded skins), then encourage them to 'change pupa, change!" You can probably make a pair of butterfly wings and antennae for this stage, but many are available for purchase as well.
4. 'Fly butterfly, fly!' Have your little butterfly flutter to a cup of nectar (juice works well), where they can take a sip with a twisty straw (like the butterfly's proboscis).  After this brief stop, your butterfly can take an egg of some sort (a ball, sticker, etc.) and 'lay' it on the underside of a leaf (green fabric, paper, bowl, etc.).  

Participants can repeat the cycle over and over again, even going back and forth between egg laying and nectar sipping (as many butterflies do)! 

So which came first: the butterfly or the egg? 
Ask your little entomologists, they're such to be full of hypotheses!

 

More Fluttery Resources...

Fluttery Reading:  Bob and Otto (Buell), Waiting for Wings (Ehlert), The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Carle)

Fluttery Field Trips:  Cincinnati Krohn Conservatory's Butterflies of Brazil (through June 26, 2011); Cincinnati Zoo's Butterfly Room(insect house, year round); Cincinnati Natural History Museum's mounted specimens)

Fluttery Film:  Flutter Serenade: The Butterfly Movie (2008)

Fluttery Surfing:  http://www.kidsbutterfly.org/ 

                            http://butterflywebsite.com/

And, yes, there is a certain amount of carnage that goes with it...but, a butterfly net can provide hours of healthy,  happy outdoor exploration!!!