Caterpillars and Butterflies

Spring is in the air! That also means spring fever. You know what I mean. Kids are even more energetic (no idea where the extra energy comes from); they have a much smaller attention span; and you have less control and less patience. I've learned that the best way to beat the spring fever is to have spring-related lessons.

This one is my favorite spring lesson. It helps kids learn the musical alphabet, but it can also be adapted to many other things like note names and musical theory.

Supplies:

• Construction paper
• Crayons (or markers)
• Googley eyes
• Pipe cleaners

Instructions:

Out of the construction paper, make butterflies and caterpillars. You will need 7 of each. I used a long piece of white construction paper for the body of the caterpillar and put a head and tail on either end. You could also make the caterpillar body out of circles. Just make sure there's enough room to write on it.

Write two letters that are next to each other alphabetically (i.e. A B or E F). Then put a ? instead of the following letter. And finally put the letter that comes next (i.e. A B ? D or E F ? A). Then on the butterfly wings, write down each letter of the musical alphabet.

The goal of the lesson is for the student to find the butterfly that matches the caterpillar. For students who have a hard time understanding the musical alphabet repeats, it helps to do this with letters printed out that stretch 2 octaves so they can see the pattern on the ground.

This also works for older students who can read. Write down theory names (i.e. Forte or Quarter Note) and have the butterflies match with the symbol.