What Can Hungry Caterpillars Teach Children About The World? Plenty, Says Emma Davis
How first-hand learning can engage young children
- by Emma Davis
At Busy Bees, we’re big advocates for the power of learning through first-hand experiences.
Recently, we enjoyed watching caterpillars transform into butterflies, which was a delight for the children.
When the caterpillars arrived in the post, they were tiny – probably less than a centimetre in length. We’d already been reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so the children excitedly retold the story, thinking about what the caterpillars might eat before their transformation (all the food they required was in the bottom of the tub, so there was no feasting on plums, strawberries or chocolate cake!).
The next day, we were astonished by how much the caterpillars had grown. We made a chart to measure their growth, which was great for thinking about days of the week and number recognition. Over the coming week, the caterpillars quickly became much, much bigger and within a week all but one had made its way to the lid of the tub and transformed into a chrysalis.
The following morning, the final caterpillar had transformed; we left them several days before transferring the lid to a netted enclosure. Children guessed how long it would take for the butterflies to emerge with estimates ranging from a day to “next year”. In fact, we waited patiently for just over a week before, overnight, four of the butterflies emerged from their cocoons and were found fluttering around the net. The children were amazed!
The next morning at Breakfast Club, the last butterfly made its appearance, gently emerging with its wings crumpled and wet. It soon dried out and began fluttering around with the others. As instructed, we placed small pieces of fruit in the bottom of the net which the butterflies feasted on for the next few days before their release on the last day of term.
We said goodbye to the butterflies while they were still in their net before taking them outside, undoing the zip and setting them free. The whole experience opened up many different avenues of learning across the EYFS, but best of all, it was something the children were a part of first-hand.
Emma Davis is Early Years Teacher and setting manager.
