Explore the importance of nurture for cognitive, social, emotional, speech and language development using the concept of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly!
What you’ll need: Paper, coloured pens and scissors
What’s it for?
This activity encourages thinking around the process of nurture and what it means to be nurtured and cared for and how this relates to the development of key skills that help us to be able to grow, to be empathic, to care for others in our lives and to create healthy relationships.
Check In:
Notice how you’re feeling right now. Close your eyes and notice what’s going on inside your mind and body.
How are you feeling?
What are you thinking?
How does your body feel?
Method:
First we are going to use movement to think of the process of nurture
If you think of the growth of a butterfly from a tiny egg, it goes through 4 stages to reach the point of becoming a beautiful butterfly
Let’s use a different movement for each stage:
Stage 1 – Egg – scrunch into a tiny ball
Stage 2 – Caterpillar – The Feeding Phase – crawl along the floor looking for food
Stage 3 – Lava/Cocoon – The Transition Phase – be still and calm and sleepy
Stage 4 – Butterfly – spread your wings and move around the room
Let’s put our imagination and thinking into creative artwork and explore each stage in picture form:
Stage 1 – Egg – draw a small egg on a piece of paper
Stage 2 – Caterpillar – draw an arrow from the egg and draw a picture of a caterpillar
Stage 3 – Lava/Cocoon – draw another arrow to the lava or cocoon
Stage 4 – Butterfly – if you want you can turn the page over and use the full page for your picture of a butterfly
Imagine and take time to think of the crucial elements that were required to nurture the butterfly from an egg to lava to the butterfly itself (food, rest, transition)
Make your butterfly as colourful and as beautiful as you would like to represent its life cycle and journey and link this with your own personal experiences
Extra Activity:
If you have access to paints, how about trying to paint a pattern on one half of a piece of paper and then fold it over and it makes a mirror image of the pattern to create a butterfly!
When you’ve finished, spend a moment reflecting on the activity and ask yourself the following questions:
How did it feel to go through the process from egg to butterfly using the art forms?
Did you prefer to use movement or did you prefer the art part of the activity?
Did you relate the process to your own personal experience and how did this feel?
How did you feel at the various stages? Egg? Caterpillar? Lava/Cocoon? Butterfly?
If you had to choose which stage of the process would you prefer to stay at?
If you could fly anywhere as the butterfly where would you fly to?
Conclusion:
This activity reflects on the basic key elements that provide a nurturing environment in which to build and grow into a healthy individual. Exploring this through movement and art can highlight the process for ourselves and think about our own life experience in relation to feeling nurtured and cared for and the importance of this.
Take a moment to notice how you are feeling at the end of this activity. Did you discover anything surprising? What can you take away to make you feel better about yourself from this activity?
If you would like to, share something about your experience with this activity with someone you live with! Ask the person who looks after you to send us an email if you have any questions or comments about the activity, or would like to send us any pictures (info@catcorner.co.uk). Don't forget to subscribe for more fun CAT activities!
Created by Sarah Kong © October 2020
Creative Arts Used: Drama and Art
Psychological Areas Explored: Emotional Wellbeing and Self-Exploration
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These activities could be done by children of all ages, but some may need the support of their parent or carer to read the instructions or complete the activity safely.
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