Painted Lady Butterflies and Ladybugs...

 Our live butterfly garden and ladybug larvae arrived!  Alicia introduced both our butterfly garden and ladybug larvae and discussed with the children the care that both the caterpillars and ladybug larvae would require over the next few weeks.  The children were so excited to have the caterpillars and ladybug larvae in the classroom !  The children were fascinated with every aspect of these new arrivals and were eager to participate in the care of the caterpillars and ladybug larvae. After listening to the  set of instructions that came with both the butterfly garden and the ladybug larvae, we realized that we needed to keep both 'homes' in a spot out of direct sunlight and in a place where we could observe and not disrupt by touching and moving the containers.  We decided that our nature table in the front of the classroom was  a perfect spot. 

A few days had passed and we decided to begin to record the development of both the caterpillars and ladybug larvae through observational drawings.  We felt that recording through observational drawings on a regular basis, we would document the development in a way that was meaningful for the children. Observational drawings  support development and practice of so many important skills; observation skills, comparative skills, fine motor skills, data gathering skills and literacy skills.

We will be reading several books about the  stages and development of both Painted Lady Butterflies and Ladybugs which will facilitate our learning and understanding of this magical process of nature!