Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  Children's involvement with animals.

    Posted 06-20-2019 10:17 AM
    This May I got butterflies in a chrysalis already. When the butterflies came out, if was so awesome to see my Furst Graders talking about it. I will definitely do it again next year.

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    Cynthia Hufnagel
    Teacher for 22 years.
    Bakersfield CA
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  • 2.  RE: Children's involvement with animals.

    Posted 06-21-2019 08:31 AM
    That's wonderful! I'd like to suggest getting caterpillars next time; it's fascinating to see the caterpillars spin their silk and transform into a chrysalis.

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    Amy Latta
    Lead NC PreK Teacher
    "All that is gold does not glitter; not all who wander are lost." --J.R.R. Tolkien
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  • 3.  RE: Children's involvement with animals.

    Posted 06-24-2019 12:13 PM
    That is such a great idea.  Next time, I will start with caterpillars and see the whole process.  It was at the end of the year, so I didn't have a lot of time to do that.  But a great idea.  Then we can log and explore how they change every day.

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    Cynthia Hufnagel
    Bakersfield CA
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  • 4.  RE: Children's involvement with animals.

    Posted 06-21-2019 11:36 AM
    Hi Cynthia, 

    This is wonderful! I know how exciting it is for children to experience the life cycles of animals. I once worked at a preschool that would bring in eggs during the Easter season. The children would visually see the life cycle of a chicken as they developed and hatched into adorable baby chicks! Good luck with your butterflies next year!

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    Jennifer United States
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  • 5.  RE: Children's involvement with animals.

    Posted 06-21-2019 04:58 PM
    This is a great way to share the life cycle along with watching tadpoles change too. Please beware where your caterpillars (or tadpoles) come from. The Dept. of Natural Resources warmed us that we could be introducing an invasive species if our larvae shipped from out of state. Maybe call the local extension or a nature center and ask before ordering. I hadn't considered this before.

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    Laure D
    PreK teacher
    Maryland
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  • 6.  RE: Children's involvement with animals.

    Posted 06-25-2019 07:34 PM
    We often look in our nearby environments for animals we can bring inside to observe the life cycle and metamorphosis.  We have observed Monarch caterpillars and tadpoles - all collected from nearby.  We did order ladybug larva from online though - but I did notice some larva crawling on my fence near my house recently, so maybe we'll be able to start collecting those from our own environments.

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    Jennie Morrell
    Andover Elementary School
    Andover CT
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