The Mom I Want to Be

 

  

Ever wonder where a butterfly comes from? It comes from a chrysalis (KRIS-uh-liss) which is also called a pupa. A chrysalis looks like a tiny leathery pouch. You can find one underneath some leaves in the summer.

 

Some animals don’t change much as they grow up. Think about it: someone your age looks a lot like a grown-up. Grown-ups have more wrinkles and gray hair. But they still have two arms, two legs and one head—just like you.

 

We’re going to meet an animal that’s very different—the butterfly. Butterflies go through four life stages, and they look very different at each stage.

 

 

1. An adult butterfly lays an egg.

 

 For this first stage we cut a leaf out of construction paper and used a hole punch to make tiny eggs to glue onto the leaf.3. The caterpillar forms the chrysalis or pupa.

 

2. The egg hatches into a caterpillar or larva. 

 

 For this stage we cut an egg carton and painted it green. We added googly eyes and pipe cleaners for feelers.3. The caterpillar forms the chrysalis or pupa.

 

 3. The caterpillar forms the chrysalis or pupa.

 

 

For this stage we cut two pieces of an egg carton, painted the brown, and glued them together. We finished it off by using DMC floss to attach it to a twig.

 

 4. The chrysalis matures into a butterfly

For this last stage we used wax paper and crayon shavings. {Iron the crayon shaving between two pieces of wax paper.} We added a large popsicle stick, googly eyes, and pipe cleaner.

 

 

Another way to show an emerging butterfly:

 

Toilet-paper tube

Tongue depressor or ice-cream pop stick

Heavy paper

6″ (150 mm) piece of pipe cleaner, folded in half

Markers or crayons

 

 

1. Cut out and color a butterfly from the heavy paper. Use any colors, but make both halves look the same. Put a small hole at the top of the butterfly’s head.

2. Color the toilet paper tube to look like a chrysalis. (A monarch butterfly’s chrysalis is green, but you can use any color.)

 

3. Take a piece of pipe cleaner and shape it like the letter “V”. Put one point through the little hole in the butterfly’s head and then twist it to look like antennae. Butterflies use these “feelers” to learn about their environment.

 

 

4. Glue the butterfly to one end of the tongue depressor or ice-cream pop stick. Let the glue dry.

 

5. Curl the butterfly’s wings and slide it into the chrysalis.

 

 

6. Pull the stick to make the beautiful butterfly come out of the chrysalis.

Fly your butterfly like a real one!