Before our computer woes began we shared highlights from our field trip to the Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg, Texas. We ended with a promise to post a FREE printable book on the life cycle of a butterfly.

Well, then the computer needed a little attitude adjustment and our schedule got all whacky! So finally, we’re finishing our trip to the Wildseed Farms. The really big hit of the day was the Butterfly Haus Learning Center. It was nearly impossible getting MacGyver away from those butterflies when it was time to go home. The butterfly observations we made were truly amazing. We were able to observe all stages of a butterfly’s life cycle. It was a wonderful treat.

All of these pictures were taken during our visit to the Butterfly Gardens at the Wildseed Farms. You can find a FREE printable link at the end of this post.

The Butterfly Garden: FREE printable book

We went to the butterfly garden.

What did we see?

We saw an orange and black butterfly resting on a purple flower.

 We saw a butterfly looking for leaves to lay her eggs.

We saw tiny butterfly eggs sticking tightly to the leaves.

We saw caterpillars munching away on plants.

We saw a bright green chrysalis that was once a caterpillar.

We wondered what kind of butterfly it would be.

Maybe it would be blue and purple.

Maybe it would be brown, pink and white.

Maybe it would even be striped like a tiger!

It was a real mystery!

Print this book FREE: The Butterfly Garden

Life with Joyce and Jeannine

We ask you to honor “the honor system” when printing this book.  These materials may not be downloaded and stored in any retrieval system.  These little books and other printable materials will ALWAYS be available to you for FREE in the archives of this site. Any time you need additional copies, just return to waddleeahchaa.com to print.  If you would like to share materials with other parents or teachers, just pass along a link to waddleeahchaa.com.

Copyright © 2011 by Jeannine Aristeguieta and Joyce Poe, waddleeahchaa.com

Copies may be printed directly from waddleeahchaa.com by a parent for individual use or by a classroom teacher for individual classroom use only.

No part of this publication may be downloaded and reproduced for storage in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the authors. Reproduction of these materials in part or its entirety for an entire school or school system is strictly prohibited. Reproduction and sale of these materials is strictly prohibited.

As a follow-up to yesterday’s Boom-dee-ah-da Bugs song adaptation, we are going to take a closer look at insects. This post includes learning the attributes of insects and incorporating sorting as a learning tool. We’ve also included a FREE printable book as a follow-up to the learning activity. Look below for the FREE printable book link: Is this an Insect? Finally, we’re highlighting a few of the live insect resources we’ve used.

Learning Activity: What are the attributes of an insect?

After sharing your favorite insect books and experiences with your students, invite them to brainstorm the main attributes of an insect.

Insects are a special group of arthropods. All insects share several, easily-recognizable external characteristics including:

• Three body segments
  (head, thorax, and abdomen)
• Three pairs of jointed legs,
  all of which are attached to the thorax
• Antennae (although there are a few species of insects with no antennae)
• Wings (though there are some flightless insects)

(Above is a picture MacGyver drew in his kindergarten journal while we were studying insects. His directions were to draw an insect and label the three body segments.)

Once the children are familiar with the attributes of an insect, create a large “T” chart. Label one side: This is an insect. Label the second side: This is not an insect. The children can add examples to each side of the diagram. For young children, magazine pictures  or clip art of insects and other animals work great. They can sort and glue the animals on the appropriate side of the “T” chart. Below are a few sample pages of a  simple printable book highlighting the concept “Is this an Insect?”

Guided Reading: Printable Book – Is This an Insect?

Print this book: Is This an Insect?

Live Insect Resources:

We ordered these caterpillars from Insect Lore. Insect Lore is an excellent resource for hands-on learning activities for children. We daily watched in awe as these little caterpillars changed into butterflies! You can check at your local gardening store for ladybugs, worms and praying mantis egg cases. We’ve done all of the above and each are very exciting for the children (and adults). We’ve also ordered online. One online resource is Arbico Organics.

Parents and teachers please share your favorite insect resource or book?

Grandson #3 and Mom have once again been doing a little interactive writing. Grandson #3′s gifts are music and math. He hasn’t quite developed a love for writing; however, he does enjoy these interactive writing sessions with Mom and Grandma. This one is special because it incorporates his interest in music. Enough can not be said for Adult / child interaction, whether in the classroom or the homeschool setting. Hope you enjoy their Boom-dee-ah-da Bugs song adaptation, done to the tune of I Love the Mountains. Look for the printable song link at the end of the book.

Boom-dee-a-da Bugs by Grandson #3 and Mom, Illustrations by Grandson #3

I hear the grasshoppers.

I see the butterflies.

I hear the kadi-dids.

I see the dragonflies.

I hear the bumblebees as they go buzzing by.

Boom-dee-a-da! Boom-dee-a-da! Boom-dee-a-da! Boom-dee-a-da!

Print this song: Boom-dee-a-da Bugs

Book of the Week: We are Giving Away one hard cover copy of Manuelo the Playing Mantis by Don Freeman.

Manuelo is a praying mantis who dreams of being able to make music like the other insects. With the help of a spider, the two of them make music together. A lovely read aloud for preschool through upper elementary. We give this book away in honor of Grandson #3 who loves to make music!

Manuelo, The Playing Mantis

To enter this contest, just answer the following question in the comments section of this post.

Do you play an instrument? If  you could what would it be?

The Rules:

One entry per person, please.

No entries after 8:00 pm Central Time, Thursday, April 29,2010

The winner must be a resident of The United States.

The winner will be selected at random and announced Friday, April30, 2010, at 12:00 pm Central Time. Check back it might be you!