Birds, Bees and Butterflies!

Beauty in the Garden
by Edmund Dulac, 1910

Since it is spring, at least that's what the calendar says, if not the weather, I thought I would share some of the cute fingerplays and songs from my lapsit program. Of course, I have also added some folktales, crafts, and lesson plans. I hope you find something fun to add some warmth to your day!

COUNTING AND FINGERPLAYS

Five Little Bees

One little bee blew and flew.
He met a friend, and that made two.
Two little bees, busy as could be
Along came another and that made three.
Three little bees, wanted one more,
Found one soon and that made four.
Four little bees, going to the hive.
Spied their little brother, and that made five.

Five little bees working every hour--
Buzz away, bees, and find another flower.

Five Little Birds

Five little birds without any home,
(raise 5 fingers of right hand)
Five little trees in a row.
(raise right hand high over head)
Come and build your nests in our branches tall
(cup left hand for nest-right fingers in)
We'll rock you to and fro.
(then rock both hands)

SONGS

Insect Song (Sung to "The Wheels on the Bus")
The firefly at night goes blink blink blink
Blink blink blink blink blink blink
The firefly at night goes blink blink blink
All around the town

The bees in the flowers go buzz buzz buzz....
The ants in the grass go march march march...
The crickets in the leaves go chirp chirp chirp...
The caterpillar in the field goes creep creep creep....

STORY STRETCH

Little Butterfly (sung to I'm A Little Teapot)
I'm a little butterfly
I have wings
I fly around
And see all things.
When I see a flower
That looks great
I call out to all my mates!
To all of my mates.

 

Butterfly, Butterfly (To the tune of Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear)

Butterfly butterfly turn around,
Butterfly butterfly touch the ground,
Butterfly butterfly fly way up high,
Butterfly butterfly fly fly fly
Butterfly butterfly turn around
Butterfly butterfly float back down.

STORIES

The Bear and the Bees - Aesop
https://fablesofaesop.com/bear-bees.html 

The Bird of Folklore – Hans Christina Andersen

https://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheBirdOfFolklore_e.html

The Butterfly Lovers - China
https://www.viewofchina.com/a-love-story-of-butterflies/

The Butterfly Soul - Japan
https://ztevetevans.wordpress.com/2020/09/09/japanese-folktales-the-butterfly-soul/

Bunnyyarl the Flies and Wurrunnunnah the Bees - Australian

http://worldoftales.com/Australian_folktales/Australian_folktale_27.html

The Butterfly – Hans Christian Andersen
https://www.storyberries.com/fairy-tales-the-butterfly-by-hans-christian-andersen/

The Cricket’s Song - Guatemala
https://www.weingartdesign.com/TMaS/Stories/tmas2-Cricket.html

How Butterflies Came to Be - Philippines

http://folktales.webmanila.com/folktales/animals/?butterflies

How the King of Birds Was Chosen - Mayan 
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA19147416&sid=sitemap&v=2.1&it=r&p=EAIM&sw=w&userGroupName=mlin_oweb&isGeoAuthType=true&aty=geo

The Language of the Birds - Russia
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/ftr/chap03.htm

The Princess Lily – China
http://cracklemountain.blogspot.com/2006/07/princess-lily-chinese-folktale.html

The Queen Bee – Germany
http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-38.html

The Turtle and the Birds - Sudan
https://www.southsudanesefolktales.org/?project=the-turtle-and-the-birds#turtletread

The Wings of the Butterfly - Brazil
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/030.html

BOOKS

The Beautiful Butterfly: A Folktale from Spain retold by Judy Sierra.

https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Butterfly-Folktale-Spain/dp/0395900158

Butterfly House by Eve Bunting.

https://tinyurl.com/hs737dwx

Coyote and the Laughing Butterflies retold by Harry Peck Taylor
https://tinyurl.com/fvwb2fba

CRAFTS

Butterfly and Caterpillar Crafts – Many adorable crafts to choose from.

http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/insects/butterflies.htm

Bug Jars - Children will learn to look at the details of bugs and plants as they learn about symmetry and asymmetry. This is a craft and lesson plan all in one!

https://kinderart.com/art-lessons/drawing/drawing-bugs-jars/

Three Easy Bird Feeders To Make With Kids
https://runwildmychild.com/easy-bird-feeders-kids/

CURRICULUM

Learning About Birds – Hands on, interactive learning. Multiple resources for a variety of grade levels.
https://www.georgiaaudubon.org/learning-about-birds-curriculum.html

Honey Bees and Cultural Attitudes - Grades: 4-6 Essential Skills: Literature, Language Arts, Social Studies Students explore how honey bees are portrayed in art and literature. It also offers a comprehensive and age appropriate bibliography at the end. http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/ahb/lsn25.html

JUST FOR FUN

Nurturing Nature with Natives Coloring Book
https://www.georgiaaudubon.org/uploads/1/1/2/7/112764233/nurturing_nature_with_natives__1_.pdf


SOMETHING EXTRA

Birds in Superstition and Folklore
https://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2017/10/birds-in-superstition-and-folklore.html

Folklore of Butterflies                                                                https://seasonwords.com/2021/06/16/folklore-of-butterflies/

Myth and Moor – The Folklore of Birds
https://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2020/05/the-folklore-of-birds.html

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2021 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.