Cocoons, Parents and a little bit of Magic

One of our children came to preschool with a huge cocoon she had found in her garden. The cocoon had just been spun, it looked and felt quite delicate and fragile, although one can be sure nature will haven taken good care of it. The description of the caterpillar pointed us in the direction of the Emperor Gum Moth.

A little bit of research revealed that the caterpillars of the Emperor Gum Moth prefer to eat the younger leaves of the Eucalyptus tree. They are usually around between October and March, our Spring and Summer months. The caterpillar stage usually lasts for many weeks, during which they change colours. The caterpillars are covered in bumps with spines and long hairs. When the caterpillar is fully mature it spins a dark brown silken cocoon which is usually attached to the foodplant. The moth usually emerges form the cocoon the following year, in Spring or early Summer, but can stay in the cocoon between one and five years. The adult Emperor Gum Moth, a large, hairy moth, only lives for a couple of weeks, during which they mate and lay eggs. The eggs are oval and are laid in rows on their sides, often along leaf margins.

We all marveled at the cocoon, wondering how a caterpillar can change in the time frame of a few hours into this amazing cocoon. Very soon afterward, the parent of the child who brought the cocoon returned to our preschool, this time with more cocoons, and a leaf with eggs attached to it. The cocoons were old and empty, a beautiful specimen for the children to feel and touch. We were all mesmerised with this miracle of nature. While the children passed the old cocoons around, I listened to the parent who had done some research on the internet and was sharing her new found knowledge. I don't know what was more exciting, the beautiful cocoon and intrigue lifecycle of the moth or the enthusiastic parent who had driven all the way back to preschool to share a moment of nature's wonder with us.

Sharing nature doesn't only connect us with the children, it also connects us with their parents. It is absolutely fabulous to see parents joining in our quest to reconnect young children with nature. The best way to get a child to care about the earth is to not only teach about it, but for the children to share the wonders of the earth with a caring adult. Bethe Almeras (the Grass Stain Guru) writes a blog about childhood, play, nature and children. In one of her recent posts she writes how "In fact, it really has to start with the grown-ups for anything to change." This is so true. Bethe writes some very inspiring posts about education, outdoor play and reconnecting young children with nature. You can read her blog here.

In the meantime, there is a miracle taking place, we can only wait. Next Spring we may find a beautiful Emperor Gum Moth emerging from the cocoon. While we wait, we will continue to take our children outside and enjoy our outdoor time, each day. With more and more parents at our preschool joining in, nature really is magical.

Did you know? The adult Emperor moths have no mouth. They never eat and are usually found resting among fallen leaves at the base of trees. They fly both day and night. To spin a cocoon takes them about 10 hours. Source: Which New Zealand Insect, by Andrew Crowe

The best day in the year

"In the beginning lies the essence of all that is to follow" -- unknown

As I walk through our garden, the first morning back after a six week holiday break, I think about the new beginnings the school year will bring. I see little oak trees growing out of the acorns that were scattered around our garden. I see pears in our pear tree, growing from the blossoms that were flowering in spring. And I see monarch butterflies emerged from the chrysalises, flittering around our garden, looking for food and a mate. I see many beautiful new things in our garden that have emerged from humble beginnings.

The monarch butterfly begins life as an egg, emerges as a caterpillar, and then undergoes a complete change in body form during development, a dramatic metamorphosis. This all happens in the timeframe of weeks, rather then years. The caterpillar looks nothing like the adult. After hatching from the egg, the young caterpillar undergoes several growths until it enters the pupal stage. From the outside it appears as though the pupa, or chrysalis is resting. In reality, it is undergoing a huge change until it emerges a fully formed adult, a butterfly. The egg is the beginning of the beautiful adult.

The new school year will bring us many new beginnings and just like the eggs of the butterfly, if they are heeded well, they will emerge into beautiful life experiences. It will bring us new skills to learn and new responsibilities to undertake. It will bring us new interests to explore and new relationships to develop. And like the chrysalis undergoing its metamorphosis, it will bring us new challenges and changes to face. New opportunities will emerge to make new choices, to move forward, to grow.

As the butterfly emerges from its chrysalis, it takes flight to pursue its main activities, mating and reproduction. It has no time to waste- butterfly adults live for only a few weeks. For the butterfly, each day is a new beginning, another opportunity to mate and reproduce. For us too, here at preschool, each day in the new year will bring new beginnings, new experiences. The experiences of today will influence our actions of tomorrow. Each day will give us new steps to realise our dreams and beckon us to new heights.

There will be new opportunities to share with each other the enjoyment of learning about our beautiful natural world, and new opportunities to share the awe and wonders of nature with our children.

And as I walk back into our classroom, I think of all the opportunities that will come today, and of the butterfly who counts not months or years, but moments, who has time enough and who seizes each day as the best day. Not the new year, but the new day brings us a new beginning and must be heeded well.

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Caught in the web of life

At our preschool we have our lunch outside, on the veranda. This is followed with free play outdoors. The children often use this time to bake mudcakes, build dams in the rain puddles, play hide and seek in the tall grass or just roam around. We finish this time with quiet time for meditation and relaxation, before we get back into our busy preschool programme routines.

Meditation time is a very special time of the day, enjoyed by all. We take out our mats and pillows on our deck and lay or sit down to listen to a special story or some quiet music. Sometimes we listen to the howling wind, or the rain on the veranda roof or we move our mats onto the grass and watch the clouds.

Today our meditation time turned out quite different. As we were listening to a spider story, a cabbage butterfly flew up on our deck, swirled around and got caught in a spider web up on the veranda roof. We watched it struggling, trying to get out. It wasn't for long when the children started to feel sorry for the butterfly and wanted to rescue it. "We don't want it to die". "We want to put it in the garden". A discussion evolved, the needs of the butterfly versus the needs of the spider, a lesson about the web of life. The children were adamant that the butterfly should live and a rescue mission was executed.

The butterfly must have been traumatised by the experience as it flew immediately into another spiderweb. This time a waiting spider immediately attacked it. Quickly the children again took the butterfly out of the web and carefully placed it amongst the flowers in the garden. One lucky butterfly, and a not so lucky, hungry spider. In the child's eye, an act of compassion and guardianship.

You can read a children's version of the Web of Life story told by a common garden spider on the Kidsplanet website.

The monarch butterflies have arrived

What a beautiful spring day it was today, crystal clear sky with a bright sun and warm temperatures. We were all feeling much more energetic after what feels like a long, wet winter. The pear tree, in the garden at our preschool, is now in full bloom. The apple tree is nearly out in blossom too. And the first monarch butterfly visited our garden today.

We have monarch butterflies in our garden every year and the children are always very excited when the first butterfly visits our garden after their winter absence. The children always spot these creatures first, to my delight, as it means they are using their senses. They excitedly came and told me about the monarch butterfly and pulled me outside. “I had to be quiet”, they said, as they crawled up as close as they could. We watched the butterfly fluttering from plant to plant until it settled on one of our swan plants (milkweed). The butterfly was most likely laying its eggs. We will watch the swan plants closely over the next few weeks, expecting some very hungry caterpillars. Watch this space …