B is for Butterfly

• Read “Butterfly Butterfly: A Book of Colors” by Petr Horacek … this is a new book for us. We love it! A little girl finds a butterfly in her garden. The next day, she can’t find it, but she does find other colorful things. The last page is a beautiful fluttery butterfly pop-up.

• Read “Are You a Butterfly?” by Judy Allen & Tudor Humphries … this is a fun, simple, non-fiction book. I love it because the kids can really interact with it.
  1. Ask the kids to find the letter B’s on the cover.
  2. There are lots of opportunities to interact with the book:
     • Do their parents look like a butterfly’s parents?
     • Pretend to eat a leaf
     • Use their feelers (two fingers pointed up) to “smell” flowers
     • Use their long tongue to drink nectar
     • Fly around the room!

• Stickers on B page
  1. Draw a large B on a piece of paper.
     • I write it for my younger kids and they trace it with a pencil or crayon. My older preschoolers can write it themselves.
  2. Stick butterfly stickers all over the page. I got these at Michael’s. Several butterfly stickers available here.
  3. Draw half of a butterfly (the left half). Show your kids how to finish the butterfly by writing a B on the right side.

• Watch “The Butterfly Colors Song” … my kids love this song. It really is cute.
  1. Cut out a simple red, green, yellow, pink, purple, orange butterfly shape. I used this one. Click the image below to print on colored paper.
  2. Place them on the floor.
  3. Roll up six pieces of tape and stick them to the wall or a door.
  4. Play the song again and have the kids pick up the matching color and stick it to a piece of tape.
  5. Point to each color during the chorus.

• Make B Butterflies
  1. Fold a piece of white paper in half vertically (hotdog-style).
  2. Help the kids draw a large B on the fold of the paper. I always tell my kids “Down. Bump. Bump.” Whatever works
  3. Let them cut out their B.
  4. Unfold to see their white butterfly!
  5. Use several colors of paint (we use Crayola Washable Kids Paints) to paint one half of the butterfly.
  6. Fold the butterfly in half again and press down.
  7. Open it again to see the beautiful, colorful, symmetrical butterfly!
  8. Let dry and add eyes, antennae, stickers or other decorations
• Pony Bead Butterfly … I loved this idea from Where Imagination Grows! We didn’t get to this, but will pull it out again on a rainy day! So cute.

• Simple Butterfly Lunch
  1. Make your favorite sandwich and cut it into a circle. Then cut the circle in half.
  2. Use a cheese stick for the body. Turn the sandwich halves to make wings. Add pretzel stick antennae!
  3. Let the kids add grapes or raisins to decorate the wings.
  4. Cut out a simple flower shape (from paper or foam paper) and cut a hole in the center. Place it on top of a cup of juice (nectar). Place a straw in the hole and drink (just like a butterfly uses a proboscis to drink!) Thank you First Grade Shenanigans for the fun idea!

• Make Butterfly Treats … make these for a treat or do what we did and use them for treats after the following story.
  1. Decorate a clothespin.
  2. Use glue to attach googly eyes and pipe cleaner antennae. I use hot glue because it dries fast and is strong. Just be very careful when your little ones are helping you!
  3. Clip the butterfly clothespin onto a bag of treats (M&Ms, Skittles, fruit snacks, etc.)
  4. Several other healthy and not-so-healthy butterfly treats found here.
• Family Home Evening Idea … every Monday is our family home evening. We do a song, prayer, short lesson, and treat with our family. This story and activity worked perfectly with our butterfly day.
  1. Prep: Make a butterfly finger puppet. Either with felt or print one and laminate it. Attach a loop to the back (for your finger). Hide the butterfly somewhere in the room.
  2. Read the story “How to Catch a Butterfly” by Marilyn Wood. Found here. You can also download an audio version on the right-hand side under “download”.
  3. TIP: Sometimes, I draw a few pictures to go along with the story (think stick people!) It helps the kids to pay attention
  4. Give each of the kids a butterfly to hold and show you how to treat it reverently.
  5. Tell the kids to look around the room for the hidden butterfly and fold their arms once they spot it.
  6. Ask one of the kids to get the butterfly and everyone else to cup their hands like they’re holding water.
  7. Have the butterfly fly over and “sip” from each cupped hand. If they’re not being reverent, the butterfly will get scared and fly away.