Flutter into spring with this Make a Butterfly Playdough Activityfor preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. Students will choose a learning center task card and make a butterfly by following the “recipe”.
This resource allows children to practice the following skills:
– Counting
– One-to-one correspondence
– Number recognition
– Number quantity
– Set recognition
– Spatial relations
– Symmetry
– More/less/same concept
– Language
– Social emotional
– Fine motor
– Following directions
Print these activity cards out on cardstock. For heavy use, lamination is recommended. Supply students with playdough, butterfly cookie cutters and/or small heart cookie cutters (these can be used to make the wings), googly eyes, craft sticks, pom poms, acrylic jewels and/or sequins, buttons, beads, pieces of drinking straws, and cut up pieces of fuzzy sticks/pipe cleaners.
Facilitate conversation during this activity; have your students to describe their creations. Ask them which items they used more/less/same of, and help them understand the concept of symmetry.
Pattern pins are versatile and easy to put together. They promote hands-on learning and quickly capture the attention of most learners.
I found this set of cute felt flowers and butterflies on Amazon and thought they were the perfect thing to use for our Garden Unit pins. For actual instructions on how to assemble the pins please refer to this post.
When introducing the concept of patterning, emphasis that a pattern is only a pattern if it is repeated at least two times. Follow up by showing examples. Break your children up into small groups and have them practice copying and extending these patterns. Start with easier ones and work up to more complicated ones.
In conclusion, be sure to give each student the opportunity to “read” their patterns after they have been created.
MATERIALS USED:
– Paint mixing sticks
– Paint (craft or spray)
– Clothespins
– Felt flowers and butterflies
– Hot glue gun
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, is one of the best-selling children’s books of all time. This charming tale of a tiny and very hungry caterpillar who eats a large quantity of food and then changes into a beautiful butterfly has entertained little ones for almost 50 years.
This classic story presents many learning concepts such as counting, colors, the days of the week and, most importantly, the life cycle of a butterfly.
Additionally, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, with its vibrant and delightful illustrations, inspires creativity. Here we have our very own hungry caterpillar. Students will paint their egg cartons and glue the eyes on (Tacky Glue works best). Simply poke a couple of holes in the top and supply children with fuzzy sticks for the antennae.
Blotto butterflies are a fun and simple craft that teaches symmetry. Supply your learners with a butterfly (older children should be encouraged to cut out their own) and some tempra paint. Students will place dollops of paint on one side of the butterfly only. They will then fold the insect in half and hold it down with one hand. Using their helper hands, students will smooth out the folded paper, spreading the paint inside. Prompt them to open up their butterflies very carefully.
Discuss how each wing is symmetrical, or a “mirror image of each other”. Activities such as this help to bolster children’s natural sense of balance which, in turn, helps to develop their observation, classification, and patterning skills.
After the paint has dried children may glue on the antennae.
We're Gigi and Zoey. We teach a two-year program (preschool and pre-k), and we're passionate about Early Childhood Education and the philosophy that children learn through play. Our goal is to prepare children for kindergarten while making learning fun.
We hope that our resources inspire you, and that you will share them with your little ones.
MAKE A BUTTERFLY PLAYDOUGH ACTIVITY CARDS HERE.
- Arts and Crafts, Bugs and Insects, Early Literacy, Fine Motor Skills, In My Garden, Language, Mathematics, Sensory Processing, Social Emotional Development, Spring, Teachers Pay Teachers
- butterflies, counting, following directions, more less same, number sense, one-to-one correspondence, playdough, set recognition, spatial relations, symmetry
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