From Caterpillars to Butterflies

As most of you are aware, we have experienced quite a life cycle through our painted lady butterflies.  A few blog posts ago, we went into detail with our thoughts about the caterpillars.  I think what was most exciting about them for the children was the hypothesizing.  What would they turn into?  When?  How would they do it?  We had many conversations throughout this process.  If you get a chance, look into what happens to the painted lady butterflies through this process.  It is quite fascinating!





First it starts out as an egg.

Out of the egg comes a caterpillar.  The caterpillar will eat and eat until it grows more and more.















The caterpillar climbs up and makes a hard shell around itself.  Inside the shell the caterpillar changes.



































And then comes the butterfly!



The butterflies came out of the chrysalises and went to look for food (oranges and water we placed inside the net).  We watched the butterflies for a few days as they made their wings stronger.

After observing them for a few days, it was time to let them go.  The children agreed that they needed space to fly around, as the net was too small.  The butterflies would crash into the sides all the time!  Ms. Stoltz discussed last thoughts as the children followed her outside to make the release.  Once in a while we look for the caterpillars outside, but we are content in thinking they have found a new home more suitable for their needs.

Early Childhood Standards of Quality: Early Learning Expectations

1. Visual Arts: Children show how they feel, what they think, and what they are learning through experiences in the visual arts.
2. Writing Skills: Children begin to develop writing skills to communicate and express themselves effectively for a variety of purposes.
3.  Expressive: Children develop abilities to express themselves clearly and communicate ideas to others.
4.  Fine Motor Development: Children experience growth in fine motor development and use small muscles to improve a variety of fine motor skills both in structured and unstructured settings.
5.  Observation and Inquiry: Children develop positive attitudes and gain knowledge about science through observation and active play.

6.  Living and Non-living Things: Children show a beginning awareness of scientific knowledge related to living and non-living things.

Painting Strokes

The children have been spending a lot of time painting with watercolors and small paint brushes.  They are creative and are becoming more intentional with their creations.  They are very interested in painting animals, and families.  In order to help the children develop their painting skills we have been exploring different ways to paint with a paint brush.  What are different ways to use the brush?  How can we create different designs? We wanted the children to make a connection between the way they use the brush and the design they created.

The children came up with names for the different ways to paint with the brush.

Lines:

Swirls: 

Dots:

Twirls:

We will continue painting and exploring new ways to use our paintbrushes.  I am curious to see how these strokes will show up in their future drawings.  These strokes are the foundation of their paintings and can be used to add detail and depth to their creations.  What are some other ways we can paint with these brushes?

Early Childhood Standards of Quality: Early Learning Expectation

1. Visual Arts: Children show how they feel, what they think, and what they are learning through experiences in the visual arts.

2. Spoken Language: Expressive. Children develop abilities to express themselves clearly and communicate ideas to others.

3.Viewing Images and Other Media Materials: Children begin to develop strategies that assist them in viewing a variety of images and multimedia materials effectively and critically.

4. Creativity and Innovation: Children use a variety of developmentally appropriate digital tools to learn and create.
5. Fine Motor Development:  Children experience growth in fine motor development and use small muscles to improve a variety of fine motor skills both in structured and unstructured settings.

Intentional Paintings

We have many children in our classroom who love to paint.  We have spent quite a bit of time exploring the different aspects of painting, and now we are focusing on what is it we want to paint a picture of.  The children always have an idea of what it is they are painting, however, sometimes during the course of one painting, the object in their painting changes.  So they may start off painting a rainbow, but by the end it is a dinosaur.

We wanted to help the children to become more intentional with their creations, to start and complete a painting with one focus and then add details.  To do this we provided them with pictures to use as inspiration.  We used things around the room, as well as books and the iPad to find pictures of things they wanted to paint.  The children used these as inspiration and then were able to expand using their own ideas and adding their own details.  Many of them were interested in animals and insects.

"It's a lady bug and a shiny green beetle.  This one has really long legs!"

"I want to paint a cheetah.  It has a tail and lots of spots."

In order to help the children to plan out their paintings, we began to draw out our work before painting it.  This way we can erase it if we do not like it and change it.  They choose what they would like to paint, and used the same tools as inspiration.  Then once they had finished their drawing they painted it.

Early Childhood Standards of Quality: Early Learning Expectation
1. Visual Arts: Children show how they feel, what they think, and what they are learning through experiences in the visual arts.
2. Spoken Language: Expressive. Children develop abilities to express themselves clearly and communicate ideas to others.
3.Viewing Images and Other Media Materials: Children begin to develop strategies that assist them in viewing a variety of images and multimedia materials effectively and critically.
4. Creativity and Innovation: Children use a variety of developmentally appropriate digital tools to learn and create.
5. Fine Motor Development: Children experience growth in fine motor development and use small muscles to improve a variety of fine motor skills both in structured and unstructured settings.