Friday, June 25, 2010

Camp - Day 1 - Butterflies

Remeber me talking about summer camp?  This is something that I have done since Christopher was a little.  I just didn't have the energy to pull it off this year.  I'm needing to work on Christopher's transcripts and do planning for everyone for the upcoming school year.  I'm also working on organizing some things for our FIAR group including starting a couple of new things.  All of these have left me feeling like I just couldn't do camp this year.  Well, guess what?  Rebecca decided that she wanted to host a camp this year!  :-)

She selected 5 topics and will be doing 5 stand alone days over the next month.  (If you are local and want to attend one of the camp days, please let us know as you as you are able to.)  The first day was today and the topic was butterflies. 

I tried to get some photos - and my little wiggly assistant helped.  Rebecca started by doing a devotion and then reading a book about butterflies.



She then shared facts with the kids about the life cycle of the butterfly.  (She even laminated them.)





Next the kids went on a scavenger hunt to find things representing the 4 stages of the life cycle.  There was the egg.



The caterpillar.



The chryssalis.  (A gummy worm wrapped in plastic wrap.)



And the butterfly.



The children each had a small bag with the life cycle on the front it in which to put the things that they found. 



Next was snack time.  I didn't get to the table fast enough!  There was juice, cheese and butterfly shaped crackers and jello in the shape of butterflies and feet (they eat with their feet).



Next they moved to a craft.  They made butterfly feeders.  They used plastic lids, pony beads, yarn and stickers.  They are to hang these in their yard with fruit (can pour orange juice on it) to attract butterflies.  It is suggested that this be away from the house so as not to attract ants.











AFter watching everyone showing what was in their hands, Eliana thought she needed a photo of that too.



Next was a quiz about butterflies.  Rebecca handed each child two pictures of one half of a butterfly.  On the back of fhe picture was an answer.  She had the other half with a question on it.  When she asked the question, they answered if they had the correct answer.  This was checked by seeing if the butterfly halves matched.





The children had some free play and then watched a Magic School Bus movie on butterflies.  It was a fun day - and a lot of work.  When it was over, one of Rebecca's comments was that it was a lot easier when the moms ran the camp. 

This is a great experience for Rebecca.  I'm proud of  her for taking it on.  I know that she will learn new skills and be a better leader from doing this.  I'm thankful for our sweet friends that are willing to give her a chance to do this too.  Next camp day will be next week. 

Hope you were able to have fun on this hot, hot day (at least here in NC).  More later on the rest of the day.  For now though, I need to get some sleep.

Blessings

Leslie