Creative Themes: July 2012

Butterflies - link up

from: made by joey

I have posted some photos of how we decorated our home for our butterfly theme.

We also made these toilet roll butterflies.
Super easy, inexpensive and fun!

~ joey ~

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If you would like to have your related links included in one of the themes, click here.

Butterflies - origami butterflies

Whenever possible, I try to introduce a new craft with a good story book. An inspirational story that has nice pictures always gets the kids excited about trying something that is unfamiliar to them.

One book that I recently discovered and really enjoyed was Butterflies for Kiri.

The story is about a young girl named Kiri who likes to make things. For her Birthday she received some origami papers from her Auntie Lu. After a couple of failed attempts at folding the paper Kiri becomes disappointed about the beautiful paper tearing. She continues to practice with regular paper and in the end makes a colourful picture that contains a perfectly folded butterfly!

We decided to give origami a try too.

The last page of the book has illustrated instructions on how to fold your own butterfly. It's quite a simple pattern so it's a great way to successfully introduce origami to children.

I really like that the story illustrates that
"if at first you don't succeed try, try again ".
I highly recommend giving it a try with your kids!

~ joey ~

Linking up to:

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

Butterflies - wool butterfly craft

One of the crafts that we made to go with our butterfly theme are these gorgeous wool butterflies.

We followed MamaMoontime's tutorial and they take literally seconds to make! They are simple enough for every age to try and turn out so pretty!

You just need a pipe cleaner and two different colours of wool roving. (and a bit of thread if you want to hang them)

We hung them in our new branch above the nature shelf but you could also:
~ tie them to a stick and let the kids fly them around the yard
~ mount one in a shadow box
~ tie one onto a gift
~ hang them in the window and let the light shine through them.

I'm sure your family will love making these as much as we did!

~ joey ~

Linking up to:
Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

and

and

Betterflies - metamorphosis

July 25th

We have really been enjoying our 'live learning' here watching our caterpillars grow and change!

I should really be posting daily updates as the changes happen so quickly so I'm dating each photo.

July 25th

This caterpillar seems to like to hang out on the lid of the container which gives us a great view of it's underside. We read that it's supposed to have 16 legs but we haven't found all 16 on any of them, they are so tiny it's hard to tell what is a leg and what is just a bump.

Then we spotted a very exciting change . . .

July 25th

...can you see it? (you may need to click on the photo) It's made a silk thread around the middle of it's body. We knew that meant it was getting read to form a chrysalis!

July 25th

And then we found this!

The first chrysalis lying on the bottom of the container. Apparently it can happen anywhere?!

~ ~ ~

July 26th

I made up this Observing the life cycle of a butterfly printable to record that we found:
0 eggs
6 caterpillars
3 chrysalises and
0 butterflies.

We also measured the shortest caterpillar at 1 cm and the longest at 2.5cm.

We filled in the colour and markings chart to say that the caterpillar and chrysalis are both green, the caterpillar with a yellow stripe and the chrysalis with yellow "spikes".

We noted any changes from yesterday and what we think will happen next as well.

July 26th

You can see the last skin on the leaf that it shed before forming it's chrysalis. We found the same skin under the other chrysalises as well.

July 26th

The caterpillar on the lid has secured a silk thread so it isn't moving or eating. I've been checking it regularly so we're hoping that we'll get to actually see it form it's chrysalis.

**Note: In the time it took me to write this it formed it's chrysalis! Oh well maybe we'll see the next one?!

Check in tomorrow to see some of the butterfly crafts we've been doing.
~ joey ~

Linking up to:

Butterflies - link up

from: Mama Smiles

MaryAnne has shared this really neat
caterpillar to butterfly craft that her son made at preschool. I love that the kids can then use it to show a friend or a grown up how metamorphosis happens. Great for building confidence!

Thank you for sharing this craft MaryAnne!

~ joey ~

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If you would like to have your related links included in one of my themes, click here.

Butterflies - live caterpillars

It just goes to prove that

"if you plan it, they will come!"

We recently found butterfly eggs, caterpillars and butterflies on our kale plants. Initially I wasn't very excited that we weren't going to be able to eat the kale, however, the timing couldn't have been more perfect for our butterfly theme. Real live learning at our fingertips!

The tiny yellow dots are the eggs.

We managed to carefully capture one of the butterflies for a closer look. We put it into a clear plastic container and checked for markings that would confirm our predictions that this was a Cabbage White Butterfly.

My daughter eagerly read the field guide and found that the colouring and the 2 spots on each forewing confirmed that this is definitely a female cabbage white butterfly.

We freed the butterfly and collected some of the tiny caterpillars that we found on some leaves.

Printable record keeping sheet:
Observing the life cycle of a butterfly

The above photo was taken on July 18th.
(can you spot the little guy?)

And the below photos were taken July 22nd.

They are growing very quickly!

We think that the larger ones must have molted a few times already as they are getting very plump!

(possibly the green stuff on the left is shed skin?)

And one thing is for sure, they poop a lot!

We've been adding fresh leaves every other day and I've been cleaning out the container regularly so that it doesn't smell.

I'll post again in a couple of days so you can see how much they have grown. I wonder how long it will be until they build a chrysalis?

Here are some links for printables of:

the butterfly life cycle
and
the parts of a butterfly

Have you kept caterpillars and would like to share your links? Please email me at madebyjoey at gmail dot com.
Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

~ joey ~

~ Linking up to:

Happy Whimsical Hearts
and
Learning Laboratory

Butterflies - link up

from: Chocolate Eyes

Becca discovered these caterpillars on her flowers in her backyard and turned it into a learning experience for her children.

Can you identify what they turned into?

Read about their experience and see the fun photos of her kids with the butterflies!

Home learning at it's best!

Thank you for sharing your links Becca!

~ joey ~

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If you would like to have your related links included in one of my themes, click here.

Welcome to Creative Themes for learning and play!

Hello and welcome!

My name is Joey and I am very excited that you are here today!

Some of you already know me from my other blog made by joey and know that I love to live a creative rich life with my husband and two children on the West Coast of Canada.

I decided to build Creative Themes for learning and play as a method of organizing all of the ideas, photos, reference materials, links, book lists, etc. that I use to create a fun learning environment in our home for our children.

my daughter age 3, 2006

How this information is organized:

Over time and as the kids matured I accumulated piles of notes so I have used three catagories to organize the information:

~ Planning Ideas

~ Learning and Play Ideas
~ Book List

~ Posts are also assigned a Theme which are sorted on the right sidebar.

~ The Search by keyword tool is helpful to find something specific.

~ Under the header photo you will see a "Printables" button where you can print (for your own use only) the printable pages that I have designed to use with certain themes.

~ Themes are also sorted by academic subjects such as Science, Math, Geography and Language so that you can search for creative learning ideas as well.

~ To store electronic information I also use Pinterest boards to organize the ideas that I find on the internet. You are welcome "pin" any ideas from this blog to your own boards.

I hope these tools make it easy for you to access all of the information quickly and easily.

Please check back often as I have only just begun to enter all of the information and printables that I have on themes such as:
the seasons (Summer, etc.)
the holidays (Easter, etc.)
the beach
the ocean
ladybugs
fairies
space
and many more!

If you have ideas, reference materials, booklists, links, blog posts, Pinterest pages or anything else that relates to one of the themes here and would like to be linked up, please email me at

madebyjoey@gmail.com

Buttons for both of my blogs are available to everyone (on the left sidebar) to add to your blog.

The first theme I chose to enter is Butterflies.
This month our family is doing a variety of activities, crafts, games, outings, and learning about butterflies. You can read more here.

I hope that you will join us often to see what we have been learning, creating and celebrating.
You can 'follow' or 'subscribe' on the left sidebar.

See you soon,

xoxo

~ joey ~

Butterflies - link up

from: made by joey

How I planned for our butterfly theme:

http://madebyjoey.blogspot.ca/2012/06/planning-themes-butterflies.html

How our theme is going so far - post #1:

http://madebyjoey.blogspot.ca/2012/07/home-learning-butterflies.html

Autumn

September 22 - December 20, 2012

2012 Calendar Dates:

Autumn Equinox - September 22, 2012
Full Harvest Moon - September 29, 2012
Thanksgiving - October 8, 2012 (Canada)
Columbus Day - October 8, 2012 (USA)
Hallowe'en - October 31, 2012
Daylight Saving Time ends - Nov 4, 2012
Remembrance Day - November 11, 2012 (Canada)
Veterans Day - November 11, 2012 (USA)
Thanksgiving - November 22, 2012 (USA)

September:

Colours to use - brown, dark red, gold, terracotta, plum

Flower - purple aster(michaelmas daisy), purple morning glory

Birthstone - blue sapphire

Astrological signs - virgo, libra

Possible themes - back to school, farm, Autumn harvest, corn, squash, pumpkins, harvest moon/moon phases

October:

Colours to use - black, orange, gold, plum

Flower - orange marigold

Birthstone - opal, pink tourmaline

Astrological signs - libra, scorpio

Possible themes - Squirrels, Thanksgiving, Hallowe'en, Dental Hygiene, Fire Prevention Week

November:

Colours to use - orange, red, gold, brown, olive green

Flower - yellow chrysanthemum

Birthstone - yellow topaz, yellow citrine

Astrological signs - Scorpio and Sagittarius

Possible themes - Salmon, Eagles, Bears, Remembrance/Veterans Day

Pinterest Autumn Boards:

http://pinterest.com/madebyjoey/seasons-autumn/

Book List:

Reference/Craft:

Everything for Fall - Kathy Charner
Earthways - Carol Petrash

All Year Round - Ann Druitt, Sue Fitzjohn, Marije Rowling

The Children's Year - Stephanie Cooper, Christine Fynes-Clinton, Marije Rowling

I love dirt! - Jennifer Ward

Let's go outside - Jennifer Ward

Playful Learning - Mariah Bruehl

The Write Start - Jennifer Hallissy

Story Books:

Woody, Hazel and Little Pip - Elsa Beskow

Spring

March 20 - June 21, 2012

2012 Calendar Dates:

Spring Solstice - March 20, 2012
Good Friday - April 6, 2012
Easter Sunday - April 8, 2012
Easter Monday - April 9, 2012 (Canada)

Earth Day - April 22, 2012

May Day - May 1, 2012

Mother's Day - May 13, 2012

Victoria Day - May 21, 2012 (Canada)

Memorial Day - May 28, 2012 (USA)

Father's Day - June 17, 2012

March:

Colours to use - aquamarine, light sage, lime green, pale yellow, rainbows

Flower - daffodil

Birthstone - aquamarine, bloodstone

Astrological signs - Pisces, Aries

Possible themes - Spring Solstice, St. Patrick's Day, Rainbows, Toadstools, Ladybugs, Clover, Birds, March comes in like a lion..., Dr Suess (Birthday March 2)

April:

Colours to use - turquoise, white, pink, yellow, purple

Flower - pink sweet pea, pink daisy

Birthstone - diamond

Astrological signs - Aries, Taurus

Possible themes - Spring bulbs, Fairies, Planting seeds, Easter, Baby animals, Chickens, Sheep, Eggs, The Earth

May:

Colours to use - green, purple, pink, yellow

Flower - Lily of the valley

Birthstone - emerald

Astrological signs - Taurus, Gemini

Possible themes - May Day, Mother's Day, Queen Victoria, Memorial Day, The garden, planting seeds, Bugs

Pinterest Summer Boards:

http://pinterest.com/madebyjoey/seasons-spring/

Book List:

Reference/Craft:

Everything for Spring - Kathy Charner
Earthways - Carol Petrash

All Year Round - Ann Druitt, Sue Fitzjohn, Marije Rowling

The Children's Year - Stephanie Cooper, Christine Fynes-Clinton, Marije Rowling

I love dirt! - Jennifer Ward

Let's go outside - Jennifer Ward

Playful Learning - Mariah Bruehl

The Write Start - Jennifer Hallissy

Story Books:

The tiny seed - Eric Carle

One watermelon seed - Celia Barker Lottridge

The Mother's Day mice - Eve Bunting

Something for Mother - Laura Alden

Are you my mother? - Dr Suess

Summer

June 20 - September 21, 2012

2012 Calendar Dates:

Summer Solstice - June 20, 2012

Canada Day - July 1, 2012 (Canada)

Independence Day - July 4, 2012 (USA)

Civic Day - August 6, 2012 (Canada)

Labour Day - September 3, 2012
Grandparents Day - September 9, 2012

June:

Colours to use - light blue, teal, grass green, lime green

Flower - red rose, red honeysuckle

Birthstone - pearl, moonstone, alexandrite

Astrological signs - Gemini, Cancer

Possible themes - Summer Solstice, Father's Day, Teachers, Gardening/Planting seeds, Flowers, Strawberries, Cherries

July:

Colours to use - red, white, navy blue

Flower - pink waterlily, pink larkspur

Birthstone - ruby

Astrological signs - Cancer, Leo

Possible themes - Canada Day, Independence Day, Butterflies, Beach, Ocean, Boats, Lighthouses, Gardening, Flowers, Blueberries, Nutrition

August:

Colours to use - red, white, navy blue, gold

Flower - yellow gladioli, yellow poppy

Birthstone - peridot, sardonyx

Astrological signs - Leo, Virgo

Possible themes - Civic Day, Geography, Bugs, Beach, Ocean, Boats, Lighthouses, Harvesting the Garden, Back to School

Pinterest Summer Boards:

http://pinterest.com/madebyjoey/seasons-summer/

Book List:

Reference/Craft:

Earthways - Carol Petrash

All Year Round - Ann Druitt, Sue Fitzjohn, Marije Rowling

The Children's Year - Stephanie Cooper, Christine Fynes-Clinton, Marije Rowling

Sunflower Houses - Sharon Lovejoy

Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots - Sharon Lovejoy

Trowel and Error - Sharon Lovejoy

Toad Cottages and Shooting Stars - Sharon Lovejoy

I love dirt! - Jennifer Ward

Let's go outside - Jennifer Ward

Playful Learning - Mariah Bruehl

The Write Start - Jennifer Hallissy

Story Books:

The Sun Egg - Elsa Beskow

Blueberries for Sal - Robert McCloskey

Butterflies - book list

Reference/Non Fiction:

~Butterflies of British Columbia (field guide) - John Acorn
~Animals and their Babies - Butterflies and Caterpillars - Anita Ganeri
~Butterflies - Cari Meister
~Monarch Butterflies Life Cycle - Julie Murray
~600 Butterflies and Moths in full color - W.F.Kirby (Dover Publications, Botanical drawings)
~ Take-Along Guide - Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies - Mel Boring
~Butterflies - Butterfly magic for kids - E. Jaediker Norsgaard
~Eyewitness Books - Butterfly and Moth
~butterfly - Thomas Marent (stunning photography!)
~Ed Emberley's Picture Pie - Page 37 "Fraction" butterflies
~DK Watch me grow Butterfly (print my 'Find the Answer' sheets here)

Craft:
~The Children's Year - Stephanie Cooper, Christine Fynes-Clinton and Marye Rowling - Page 52 Making butterflies for mobiles or to tie on a stick; Page 44 Crocheted Caterpillar bookmark
~More magic wool - Angelika Wolk-Gerche - Page37 Wet felted butterflies
~Klutz Kits - Twirled Paper (Quilling kit) - Page 21 Quilled butterflies to hang in the window
~Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals - Page 4-5 How to draw caterpillars
~Usborne Playtime - I can crayon - Page 22-23 How to draw a caterpillar; Page 30-31 How to make an embossed butterfly
~Usborne Activities - Sparkly things to make and do - Page 12-13 Spangly butterflies
~Usborne Farmyard Tales - Things to make and do - Page 12-13 Leaf print butterflies
~Usborne Activities - Things to make and do with paper - Page 26-27 Tissue paper butterflies
~Intricate Butterflies - 45 beautiful designs to color! - Chuck Abraham

Story books/Early childhood:

~The very hungry caterpillar - Eric Carle
~Are you a butterfly? - Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries
~Butterflies in the garden - Carol Lerner (nonfiction and beautifully illustrated)
~Where Butterflies Grow - Joanne Ryder
~A Blue Butterfly - A story about Claude Monet - Bijou Le Tord (beautiful watercolour illustrations)
~Butterflies for Kiri - Cathryn Falwell (about Origami)
~Butterfly Butterfly - A book of colors - Petr Horacek
~Waiting for wings - Lois Ehlert
~10 little caterpillars - Bill Martin Jr and Lois Ehlert

Youth:

~Butterfly Meadow series - Olivia Moss
~The butterfly alphabet - Kjell B. Sandved (Photographs of butterfly wings and poetry)
~Sarah and the magic science project - Hazel Hutchins

Butterflies - planning ideas

Important dates and celebrations:

Autumn and Spring - Monarch butterfly migrates

Possible times to use this topic: Spring, Summer, Autumn

Extensions of this theme: Life cycles (science), eggs (science), caterpillars (science), colour (art), patterns (art, early math), change (social development)

Decorations: silk butterflies/flowers/greenery, window clings, arts and crafts made during theme

Common items to use: dishes in the shape of or with butterflies on them (plastic or china), themed handle spreaders, butterfly printed napkins, fold a cloth napkin into a butterfly ,butterfly bedding and accessories

Foods: fruits and juices, use a straw to drink like a butterfly, butterfly shaped cookie cutter for sandwiches, veggies or cookie

Clothing: silk butterfly wings, clothing with butterflies or caterpillars on them, tattoos

Music:
- the butterfly jig - you tube
- the butterfly colors song - you tube
- butterfly fly away - miley and billy ray cyrus
- dog and butterfly - heart
- scores from Madame Butterfly opera

Movies:
Documentaries:
Eyewitness DVD's - Butterfly and Moth
http://www.amazon.com/Eyewitness-Butterfly-Artist-Not-Provided/dp/B000VZGGRU
Entertainment: Eric Carle The very hungry caterpillar and other stories

Outings: visit a Butterfly House, visit a garden or park to look for eggs/caterpillars/butterflies

Supplies to keep available: butterfly or caterpillar pencils, erasers, notepads, rubber stamps and ink pads, stickers, temporary tattoos, bookmarks, circles of paper for making caterpillars, glue, scissors, tape

Butterflies - learning and play

Subjects:

Math:
- coin caterpillars

Language:
- the butterfly alphabet

the butterfly life cycle made with pasta

Science:
- butterfly life cycle
- purchase chrysalises or cocoons to watch them emerge
- look at butterfly wings under a microscope
- parts of a butterfly
- parts of a caterpillar
- learn the differences between moths and butterflies
- use field guides to identify butterflies that you see in your yard
- "Tracking Seasonal Change" with Journey North
- order butterfly supplies http://www.butterfliesetc.com/

Geography:
- follow the migration path of the Monarch butterfly

Active Play:
- crawl like a caterpillar race

Imaginative Play:
- silk butterfly wings to flutter about
- playing out the life cycle (ie: wrapping up in a blanket for chrysalis stage)

Arts and Crafts:
-knit caterpillar and butterfly toys
http://www.mamamoontime.com/2010/09/how-to-make-caterpillar-and-butterfly.html

-the very hungry caterpillar puppet
http://lyndsxo-glamourmoms.blogspot.ca/2011/03/very-hungry-caterpillar-puppet-tutorial.html

-butterfly cross stitch pattern
http://www.ant-of-sweden.com/9/free_charts/m-ant-103/

-knit caterpillar and butterfly toys
http://www.ant-of-sweden.com/9/free_charts/m-ant-103/
-the very hungry caterpillar puppet
http://lyndsxo-glamourmoms.blogspot.ca/2011/03/very-hungry-caterpillar-puppet-tutorial.html

Activity/colouring sheets:
Dover Little Activity Books:
Little Butterflies Stained Glass Coloring Book

Butterfly coloring sheets and mandalas:

http://www.coloringcastle.com/butterfly_coloring_pages.html