Nursery Students Practice Compassion, Science Concepts, and Art Skills with Classroom Caterpillars

Nursery students welcomed five fuzzy new friends to the classroom: caterpillars! The children have been fascinated watching them wiggle around their jar as they eat and grow bigger each day. Over the next few weeks, they will observe the incredible life cycle of a butterfly as the caterpillars hopefully form their chrysalises. Once the caterpillars are safely inside their chrysalises, the students will transfer them to a butterfly habitat, where they will patiently watch and wait for the creatures to emerge as butterflies! The children have been studying the caterpillars in awe, showing so much curiosity and excitement. This has included looking closely and sketching what they observed, helping to develop their fine motor skills, focus, concentration, and ability to draw representationally.

As part of the caterpillar and butterfly exploration, the children were introduced to the concept of symmetry and learned that symmetry means something is the same on both sides. They participated in a special butterfly painting activity: Each child was given a piece of paper folded in half and chose a paint color to create two large globs on one side of the paper for butterfly wings. With the help of their morah, the children carefully folded the paper in half and pressed it together. When they opened the papers, the children were amazed to discover beautiful butterflies, with the other side of the paper showing a mirror image of the painted side! This hands-on experience supported the children’s sensory awareness as they explored the texture of the paint, while also encouraging their ability to follow directions, work slowly and carefully, and observe cause and effect.