Mystery Solved: Female Gypsy Moth Has Emerged!

Earlier this week, one of our little friends found a "fuzzy chrysalis" in our play area. We have been spending a portion of this week trying to solve the mystery. What is inside that chrysalis?

Through our research, we found out that the chrysalis was really a cocoon. What is the difference between a chrysalis and a cocoon? Well, both are the pupae stage of a metamorphosis. Butterflies make a "naked" chrysalis and moths make a fuzzy/furry covered cocoon.

Being that we have been hatching Monarch's for quite some time, I happened to have a couple of chrysalis shells for the children to compare to the cocoon shell.

They do look and feel quite different.

The children are super excited about our new find. The can't wait for the rain, thunder, and lightening to subside so that they can go out and look for more chrysalises and cocoons. I honestly don't know all that much about gypsy moths. (Thank goodness we have Google!) I anticipate a field trip the library in the near future for some additional research!

Do you know anything about gypsy moths? Have any great books or resources I could look for?

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A Few Ideas With Marker Caps (As Promised)

Yesterday, I hope I convinced you not to throw away your markers that "don't work." Today, I will share with you a few ideas for what to do with all of the caps. The possibilities are nearly endless, but here are a few of our recent creations: 1) A Leprechaun/Fairy Ladder/Rope Ladder: 2) #1 if not permanently secured can also double as a rope bridge: 3) #1/#2 can also be made into a train track for your homemade trains :). (No photo available) 4) You can use them as beads for a necklace: 5) You could make them into a wind chime. (No photo available). 6. You can use them as small manipulatives to count, sort, and make patterns with. (No photo available). 7) You could use them as playing pieces in your own homemade board game. (No photo available). 8) You could put them on a wire and glue them in place to make a twirling whirly-gig. 9) You could top them with a lid from a milk jug to make tiny tables or toadstools. 10) You could make them...

Easter Egg Caterpillars!

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Xylophones and Outdoor Music (Originally posted May 2010)

These posts were originally published in May of 2010. Our music area has been updated quite a bit since then, but it will give you some basic instructions for creating the xylophone. I've wanted to make an outdoor area for music for quite some time. We had a new fence installed around the play area, and my thought was to put a HUGE xylophone on the fence, like the one we saw mounted on the wall at the U.P. Children's Museum. However, after being inspired with additional ideas for an outdoor area through following Teach Preschool on Facebook, we have opted to create an entire section of our outdoor play space to making music! The first project for our Music area was a Giant Xylophone. Here are a few photos as we worked to put it together. This photo is of our temporary installation. Due to the size of the xylophone, we need to reinforce it with wood, as the string is not strong enough to account for gravity. The xylophone is made out of scrap 2x4 pieces...

Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

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