We got caterpillars in the mail today! As Spring has sprung our interest in the life found in our outdoor environment has grown. The boys notice anything that moves while we were outside. We have gathered worms and watched them in a jar of dirt. Later we found a large jumping spider that was fascinating to watch as it climbed around leaves inside of a jar to get a better look at us. We have also been reading Chickens Aren't the Only Ones by Ruth Heller and talking a lot about eggs, so the caterpillars arrived at the perfect moment! We took a moment to talk about the progression that insects go through: egg-larva-pupa(chrysalis) - adult.
After snack this afternoon GW said, "Do painting today? Paint our legs?" Sounded great to me, so I quickly gathered the important materials while the boys removed their socks. I brought in a large sheet of paper then brought down the small cup that holds the caterpillars. I turned on one of our favorite songs, Caterpillar Caterpillar by Kira Willey, then passed out small cups of yellow and blue paint with a a brush. Everyone quickly got to work, knowing just what they wanted to do.
There was very little talking, everyone found their own space and alternated painting their skin and the paper as the colors mixed. "Look, Look" everyone was saying as they drew long lines on their body and the paper. Soon their need to explore the paint ended and we all worked together to clean up so we could move on to the next thing. We returned to watching the caterpillars before drifting off to the next interest. Later we hung up our large sheet of paper to admire.
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