Butterfly Poems

Before becoming a mother, I was an elementary music teacher.  I enjoyed my job a lot, but I like being a mom even better!  It may sound silly, but I feel teaching music to a classroom full of kindergarteners was easier than trying to "teach" music to my daughter!  I'm not sure why, exactly.  After reading this post about a weekly and daily rhythm from Childhood Magic, I decided that we need to focus on music one day a week.  So Wednesdays have become "Music and Movement Day!"  E loves it.  Today I brought out my guitar to play a few songs, and let her pluck around as well.  Since we are beginning to study butterflies, I grabbed some of our playsilks and taught her these fun caterpillar/butterfly poems I used with my preschoolers way back when.

Caterpillar, Butterfly

One will crawl, one will fly

Which moves low? Which moves high?

Caterpillar, Butterfly

This poem is fun to wiggle on the ground when speaking about the caterpillars, and to walk on tip-toes when speaking about the butterflies.  And of course, playsilk wings are a MUST.

Way up in the skies, a butterfly flies,

When way down below, a caterpillar goes slow.

He munches and munches on jungle leaf lunches.

"I'm so full and fat!" he says with a pat.

"I'll spin a cocoon by the light of the moon,

Curl up in my bed, and sleep," he said.

Not a sound did we hear, 'till the special moment was near.

The weeks soon passed by, and out flew a butterfly!

We act out the poem one line at a time.  Playsilks can become butterfly wings, jungle leaves, and the caterpillar's cocoon.  If you have some small percussion instruments laying around, it's really fun to add "sound effects" to the poem as well!