What a wonderful question this title is.  Follow along as the author tells where other animals go when it rains, but where does the butterfly go when it rains?

Materials

•             Butterfly match game/patterns
• Butterfly wings (sold at Dollar Store)
• 8 one to two in paint brushes and buckets

Vocabulary

•             Hide ( to move out of sight or to be blocked from view)

Before Reading the Story

            Talk about where and what people do when it is raining outside.  Make sure to touch on the safety of going inside when there is thunder.  Talk about how after the rain there are puddles, does anyone like to play in the puddles?  Ask the children if they know what an umbrella is, have they ever used one?  Ask the children if they know where animals might go when it rains (my cat runs under Mommy’s car, the cow goes to the barn)  Introduce the story and ask it as a question, Where do the butterflies go when it rains?

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes. AND Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety,, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Reading the Story

After you ask the question, “Where does the butterfly go in the rain’? Give the children a few seconds to respond before you turn the page. If no one responds, shrug your shoulders and continue reading. If someone does respond say “I don’t know, let’s keep reading”.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

After Reading the Story

            Cut out a small butterfly shape from a manila file.  Cut out a triangle, circle, square, and rectangle from colored paper that is big enough for the butterfly to be able to hide under without being seen.  Have a child hide their eyes.  Place the butterfly under one of the shapes.  The child then opens their eyes and guesses which shape the butterfly is under.  Make sure to have the child name the shape that he thinks the butterfly is under.  Then let that child hide the butterfly while another child guesses.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to recognize, describe, compare, and name common shapes, their parts, and attributes.

Discovery

If you have butterflies already at your center, put out orange slices and water to attract them to a window close to your science center. Check out this web site for more info about making butterfly feeder. https://insteading.com/blog/how-to-attract-butterflies/

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Music and Movement

            Teach the children the counting rhyme, La Mariposa

            Uno, dos tres, cuatro, cinco                       One, two, three, four, five

            Cogi una mariposa de un brinco.                I caught a butterfly.

            Seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez                     Six, seven, eight, nine, ten

            La solte brincando otra vez                        Then I let him go again.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops ability to count in sequence to 10 and beyond.

Play the piano piece, Butterfly in the Rain and let your children dance and move to the music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVXmtckavDQ

Creative Arts/Movement; expresses through movement and dancing what is felt and heard in various musical tempos and styles.

Blocks

            Put out a few paper butterflies, or draw several small ones on a manila folder and cut out.  As the children build structures they can hide the butterflies within or on the structure.  Then ask you or another child to come and find them. Older children might like to cut out their own butterfly to hide.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Art

            Give each child a clean manila folder.  Have them dab small amounts of paint onto one side.  Fold the other side over and press with their hands.  Open back up and let it dry.  When it is dry, refold it and then draw a butterfly pattern on one side.  Older children can cut these out but the teacher will have to cut for younger children.  Cut both sides together.  If your center allows, hang the butterflies from the ceiling with the painted side facing the floor.

Give each child a white coffee filter and tell them to color it with water soluble markers. When they have finished coloring the entire coffee filter have them use a squirt bottle to spray their coffee filter 3 times. This will cause the marker to run and the colors to melt into each other. Use a clothespin for the body and put half the coffee filter through to make wings.

Creative Arts/Art; gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Sand and Water

            Put sand in the table today and hide magnet letters in it.  The children can scoop and sift in search of the letters.  Make an alphabet chart and as the children find the letters, they can match them to the chart.

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their name.

Library and Writing

On the bottom of each piece of drawing paper write; If I were a butterfly I would hide from the rain _______. Read this sentence to the children and then ask them to illustrate it. You can collect all the pictures and make a book, Where Would We Butterflies Hide From the Rain?

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem. AND Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Dramatic Play

Many Dollar Store sell butterfly or fairy wings in theri toy department. If your center has a budget, ask them to purchase enough so that everyone in the dramatic center can have a pair of wings to wear.

Math and Manipulatives

            Make a butterfly pattern matching game.  Make two copies of each butterfly pattern, cut, color and cover with contact paper.  The children then match the butterfly’s that are the same.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size.

Outdoor Play

Give the children the large paint brushes and buckets filled with water. Show them ow to paint the building, the sidewalk, and the tree. If you have a lot of cement, challenge the children to write thier names with the water before it evaporates.

Literacy/Early Writing; experiments with growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as markers, crayons, and computer. AND Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences.

Transitions

On pieces of paper write 2 and 3 step directions. Put the pieces of paper into a bowl. The children take turns pulling one out and then must follow the instructions. (Put your hands on your head and hop forward 3 hops, Tell your neighbor hello, clap your hands and then turn around. Jump 2 times and touch your toes. Jump 2 times, clap your hands 2 times, and turn around. Nod your head yes then shake your head no. Jump and turn 4 times. Etc.).

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions.