In keeping with the spring theme of new life, when plants grow, flowers bloom and baby animals are born in the warmer weather, children in the Early Years have been learning about the life cycles of butterflies and frogs.
We began with the well-loved story of The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
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Using key vocabulary and labelled picture cards, we identified the different stages of a butterfly's life and described how it looks in each stage. |
Then using smaller cards with just pictures, the children completed a life cycle chart, describing each stage using their own words.
We did the same with the life cycle of a frog, using another chart and set of picture cards. They also learned that when a butterfly and frog "grow up", the cycle does not end. They lay more eggs and the cycle continues.
Some words were quite tricky to say in English and in the children's home language.
Here are some of the key words we used:
Butterfly Life Cycle: egg, caterpillar, cocoon (or chrysalis), butterfly,
Frog Life Cycle: frogspawn (or frog eggs), tadpole, froglet, frog
Other words we used: hatch, grow
How do you say these words in your home language?
