As I work in schools across the country, I had a special opportunity to make monarch butterflies with preschool children and talk about the butterfly’s unique characteristics and what it needs to survive. The paint-stained fingers led the children into experiencing the joy of discovery. Even though everyone had the same two colors of orange and black, each child’s painted butterfly emerged as unique.
Before we started painting, I asked the children, “Did you know that the butterfly can’t see details?” Interestingly, the butterfly can see colors that we can’t see. Then I asked, “Did you know that some butterflies’ tongues are almost as long as their bodies?” To help the children imagine the butterfly’s long tongues, I bought juice boxes to drink the sweet nectar juice through the long tongue-like accordion straw. Finally, I asked, “Did you know that a butterfly can’t fly when it’s cold?” The children and I pretended to be butterflies waking up as the sun energized our wings. I even wore elegant butterfly wings made of painted sheer fabric to illustrate the flight of a butterfly.
During our time together, we discovered more about the delicate butterfly’s unique characteristics. We learned about the importance of clustering together to help these cold-blooded insects to survive. We celebrated each preschool artist and the beauty and fragility of their butterfly. We ended by discussing the importance of showing kindness, unity, and love to help all the butterflies to be healthy and safe in the garden.
What is one way you can use creativity to teach children about bullying prevention and safe schools?
Broken Wings
Grand Rapids Public Museum
272 Pearl Street NW (west of the river)
September 19 to October 7, 2018
Vote #66688
In light of the recent tragic school shootings across America, find out how you can create positive change from national bullying specialist Jeff Veley.
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