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Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

April 9, 2018 by Sheryl Cooper

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Inside: This week our toddler and preschool classroom is set up for the butterfly theme. While we learn about the butterfly life cycle, we will have lots of hands-on learning activities offered throughout our classroom.

Once we return from spring break, we start focusing on our butterfly theme.

We order caterpillars and observe them grow bigger and bigger, until they go into their chrysalis.

When they emerge from their chrysalises as butterflies, it’s magical! We celebrate by taking them outside and releasing them, waving as they fly away.

We add lots of related activities in the classroom with lots of play and exploration.

 

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

 

 

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

Watch the video:

You can see all of our themes here.

Welcome to my classroom! As soon as you enter, you will notice butterfly books displayed on top of the shelves. I love to take advantage of every part of our room, and it’s important to have a literacy rich environment.

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

Dramatic Play

We are having a butterfly tea party!

Grab some butterfly wings, or put on a jacket, or a tu-tu. Whatever is your fancy.

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

Science

We pulled out our felt butterfly life cycle pieces and displayed them on the flannel board.

I found some magnetic butterflies in plastic containers from the dollar store. They are solar powered and look like they are really fluttering around!

We added a butterfly hand puppet and tacked a poster on the wall.

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

I also added some butterfly exploration near our dramatic play area. I hung a big butterfly in the window (it’s meant to be part of a costume.)

On the shelf below we have magnifying blocks, magnifying tables, and binoculars, as well as some butterfly resources (some aren’t shown in this photo).

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

Activity Table

We have 2 long tables pushed together for our activity table.

These tables are also where we have snack, family style, and where we have art.

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

 

Literacy

Our reading area is in between our activity table and our dramatic play area. We keep books in our bookshelf, on the “coffee table”, and there is also a basket of board books between the couch and chair.

Whenever it’s time to transition, we have his basket placed on the carpet in our circle time area. The children gather there and take a book out of the basket to look at until it’s time for us to move to something else, like going to recess.

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

Here are some of the books for this theme:

Butterfly Butterfly: A Book of Colors

Becoming Butterflies

Caterpillar to Butterfly 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme


Light Table

We found some butterfly transparencies in our butterfly theme box that work perfectly on our light table. I do not know who donated them to the box, but I love them! We added some of the plastic butterflies that I found from the Dollar Tree.

The poster shows different types of butterflies. It’s been around for years so I am once again not sure of where it originally came from. (This happens when you’ve been teaching in the same school for almost 2 decades!)

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

Sensory Bin

We had a mixture of dried beans and lentils in our storage room, so I used them as the base for this butterfly sensory bin.

I added my favorite little baskets, our tree blocks, our butterfly life cycle model, the butterflies from the Dollar Tree, as well as the bug containers and nets, also from the Dollar Tree.

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

Writing Table

I created a very simple printable that we will be using for a butterfly art project.

I also added them to our writing table along with markers.

Scroll down to find the printable that YOU can use, too!

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

Easel

Remember our big, beautiful butterflies?

We can make them again at the easel!

We will paint with watercolors on these commercial-sized coffee filters and turn them into butterflies.

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

Play Dough

Our play dough table won’t look as sparse as this photo. I just wanted to show how we will be adding lots of butterfly cookie cutters.

We will also add other fun tools, too!

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

Don’t forget to grab your butterfly printable!

Setting up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Butterfly Theme

 

 

 

Planning your bugs and butterfly theme? We’ve done the work for you!

 

I am so excited to be a co-author of these bugs & butterflies theme lesson plans.

24 preschool learning activities for your bugs & butterflies theme, including literacy, math, science, art, fine motor, and more! A great resource for teachers and homeschoolers.

preschool bugs and butterflies lesson plans

24 preschool learning activities that cover:

Literacy
Math
Science
Fine Motor
Sensory
Gross Motor
Art
Social Studies
Music
Circle Time
Social/Emotional

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: preschool, Spring Activities, Teachers, Themes, Toddlers Tagged With: preschool, printables, spring, teachers, themes, toddlers

About Sheryl Cooper

Sheryl Cooper is the founder of Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds, a website full of activities for toddlers and preschoolers. She has been teaching this age group for over 20 years and loves to share her passion with teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone with young children in their lives.

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Welcome! I'm Sheryl Cooper, teacher of 2 and 3 year olds for over 19 years. Read more about me here!

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