Squeeze top inspiration!

Last week Penelope was sick and couldn't go to school. Luckily, she has this fantastic preschool teacher who is not only super supportive but also incredibly creative and helpful. She emailed and let me know what they were working on in class that week (butterflies!) and even attached some of the activities. 

I took this opportunity to try something different with these "squeezie pouch" tops I have been collecting for awhile now. You know these things! These fun colorful tops are probably in every family recycling bin or at the bottom of any diaper bag! 

I gave her this caterpillar. I traced the tops to create the circles. As she colored them we talked about caterpillars and that great Eric Carle book, we love, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"! 

It was fun listening to her reasoning about the colors she was choosing. She would play with the idea of creating a pattern and then as any good 3 year old would, threw that idea out the window and went back to focusing on her favorite colors wherever it felt right. Great conversation- learning and not even knowing it! (Good time to give the kids a bunch of these tops and have them create a pattern in their caterpillar before coloring)

She then rolled the paper up to show a cocoon. (Kind of looks like it!) 

And then look what came out of the cocoon! A Penelope Elizabeth Haese butterfly!

She really enjoyed this activity so much that she wanted to try to make her own caterpillar for Cooper. 

If you can see, she even worked to write the letters of his name in the circles. Then she made one for Daddy and one for Mama.

I compiled all of these caterpillars and then butterflies into a book of butterflies. In the classroom this could become a published piece with a cover and even with different additions inside (labels, story line, captions, etc)- depending on the age or developmental levels you are working with. 

For us, it was a fun way to learn about caterpillars, cocoons, and butterflies. It was also a great use for those tops that I keep telling myself will be useful!