Earlier this morning, while playing on the roof, a few of the children noticed a butterfly walking on the ground. We sat in a circle around the butterfly, watching it move. We noticed that one of the butterfly’s wing was folded, meaning that it couldn’t fly.
One child suggested, “Maybe we should put it in the garden so nobody will step on it.”
Another child ran to grab a wood chip so that a teacher could transfer the butterfly from the ground to the safety of the garden.
Once amongst the plants, the two children worked together to make the butterfly feel safe and happy. One placed a flower near the butterfly, saying, “I got her a flower. See, she likes it.” We wonder if they remembered that butterflies eat nectar from flowers!
Another child brought some of the other children over to see the butterfly. They said, “We put her here so she won’t get stepped on. You have to be very careful. She don’t know how to fly.”
Just before we left the roof, the children noticed that the butterfly took a few steps towards a leaf. They excitedly found teachers and said, “She’s going to fly! Look, look, the butterfly is going to fly!”
We blew the butterfly some kisses, wished her well, and headed down to the classroom for Music.
It was lovely to see their care applied not just to friends and classmates, but to every creature, big and small!
