Butterflies and Preschool

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. II Corinthians 5:17

If you've had an opportunity to be out and about in your yard or on trails you may have noticed the variety of butterflies we have here in the Upstate. My friend Diane Buie, has published My Butterfly Chair, a butterfly book for preschoolers. She photographed the most common butterflies here in the Upstate and lets her book be a type of butterfly search. It will help children and parents learn the names and habitats of butterflies in our area.

My Butterfly Chair will be a good book to take in the yard to help young children identify butterflies. Instead of catching butterflies, Miss Buie encourages children to allow the butterflies to land on knees and toes. Children can have up-close and personal observations. How fun is that!

There are so many lessons butterflies can teach us.  Each butterfly is different just as we are one of a kind creations. By extending the observation to include lifecycles, children will begin to see how caterpillars have to make a drastic change to become beautiful butterflies. They have to die to their old way of life and become new creatures.  By applying the lifecycle to our spiritual lives we can understand our need for change. We go along with life until the day we realize this need, the need for repentance, and a new direction. God's direction. Then like the caterpillar we must die to our old way of life and let God change us into the new creature He wants us to be.

Have you allowed the Lord to bring that change into your life? What new things have you noticed in yourself?

Diane's books are available at LuLu.com. You may also find her out and about with her books at area craft fairs in the near future.

Blessings, 

Gail

Back to School

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. II Corinthians 5:17 

Yes, this week it's back to the classroom - figure out the theme, fix the bulletin boards, arrange the centers, prepare lesson plans, make it all coordinate. But that's a lot of fun. We won't talk about meetings. 

At the school supply store, I noticed a lot of Very Hungry Caterpillar decor. That's cute, I thought. Then it occurred to me, That's perfect! 


There are so many ways to use this theme to help my little ones understand and grow. 

• life cycles - everything changes over time
• making good choices
• turning over a new leaf doesn't completely fix a problem
• dying to an old life
• growing up, never to be a child again (I know that's sad but true)
• beauty is on the inside

These points don't just apply to caterpillars and butterflies. What about frogs? seeds? mammals? birds? trees?

Life cycles can be applied spiritually as well. Just like a caterpillar makes bad choices and ends up sick in the story, so we can choose to sin and end up "sick". We can just turn over a new leaf. We'll feel better for a little while, but the real change comes when we die to an old way of life and become a new creature in Christ who can never go back to living a sinful lifestyle again. 

Hey Kids:

What's your favorite life cycle to observe?

How does it work?

Can you use The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a mentor text to draw/write about your favorite life cycle?

How can you use your story to explain our spiritual lifecycle to a friend?

Blessing for a new school year.

Gail