Being Butterflies
by Rae Pica
I’ve seen some incredibly beautiful butterflies flitting and floating around my yard in the last couple of weeks, and it got me thinking about their life cycle, which is one of the more interesting among living things. You can help your child understand this life cycle and develop an appreciation for these beautiful insects by asking him to pretend to be one of them!
First, some background information:
- Metamorphosis is the word used to describe the life cycle of a butterfly. There are four stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly.
- The egg is very tiny and is usually laid under the leaf of a plant.
- The caterpillar is long and tubular in shape, and it has six eyes on each side and several pairs of legs.
- The chrysalis hangs from a tree by a silken thread and represents the “resting” stage; the butterfly begins to form inside the chrysalis.
- Finally, an adult butterfly emerges from the chrysalis. It has bright, colorful wings that are exactly the same on both sides. While resting, the butterfly holds its wings vertically, almost touching each other over the back of the body.
Talk to your child about all of these aspects of a butterfly and its life cycle. Then explain that she’s going to act out this cycle, beginning with the egg. Ask her to make herself as small as she can and pretend to be a tiny egg underneath a leaf. The “egg” then turns into a long and tubular caterpillar. Ask her to show you how a caterpillar moves.
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