The Caterpillar, Transformation

We will be exploring caterpillars this week.
If you happen to find one with your child while out on a nature walk, please bring it in to share. We are on the lookout for these creatures and may order some this week to observe the process of becoming a butterfly.
Bean bag caterpillars, tissue paper butterflies, new circle time verses, songs, and poems, building a butterfly house, a caterpillar chain, finding out what kinds of flowers attract butterflies, planting more flowers around the outdoor areas, having time visiting with our gardener from Urban Farms to help the children start their own garden space, and working on our nature journals are just a few of the activities we will be working on together.

The books we will read:

Monarch Butterfly of Aster Way by Elizabeth Ring
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Charlie the Caterpillar by Dom Deluise
Clara Caterpillar by Pamela Duncan Edwards
From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman
Caterpillars, Bugs, and Butterflies by Mel Boring
Caterpillars and Butterflies by Stephanie Turnbull
Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar by Clare Jarrett
The Goodnight Caterpillar: A Children's Relaxation Story to Improve Sleep, Manage Stress, Anxiety, Anger by Lori Lite
Butterfly House by Eve Bunting
The Butterfly Book by Kersten Hamilton
Where Butterflies Grow by Joanne Ryder

Nature Walk Verse:

"Now we know that May hath come,
O'er the meadows dancing;
Robin lilts his sweetest song,
Sunbeams round him glancing."

This Week's Reflection: Transformation

"The caterpillar trusts his maker that all is well. He does not cling to his old garment and thus is transformed into a magnificent butterfly. There is no pain, it is a natural transmutation. So it is with us. As the chrysalis is the bridge between caterpillar and butterfly, so is true perception the bridge between separation and Oneness. We are transmuting into a new state of Being. Clinging to our caterpillar stage, our old ways of judgment, we shall never learn to fly into the dawn of a new day."
-Peter Erbe

Trusting where we are at this present moment will help us transform into the Being we are meant to be. We create our own suffering - thinking and analyzing where we are going and what we are to become...worrying and planning...wondering if we are on the right path. What we fail to realize is that we are already whole - right Now is the answer. Trust the process without resistance and let go of the old way of thinking that has held you back so long. The path of least resistance is the way."
-Little Acorn Learning