This year, Sofia understood a bit more about what it meant to celebrate New Years' and ring in 2020. So, we decided it would be fun to partner with Safari Ltd and have Sofia choose the animal she wanted to be like in 2020.
She chose the butterfly, which I loved because it truly does exemplify who she is right now. She is "spreading her wings" and evolving into her new role as Big Sis! This year is a year of independence for her, as she is no longer a baby and instead a three-year-old, as she likes to remind me (insert eye roll here). We decided a fun way to celebrate this special animal was to showcase some of our favorite butterfly toys from Safari Ltd, show you how we play with them at home, and pair them with a printable that you can do too.
The Monarch Butterfly is part of the Incredible Creatures® collection and is found in many parts of Northern and Central America. We played with this beautiful figurine, a few different ways. First, Sofia paired it with three of her favorite printables, shown below, from Preschool Mom.
Link to printable: https://preschoolmom.com/wp-content/uploads/PMom/Butterfly/ColoringPages/ButterflyColoringPages.pdf
Link to printable: https://preschoolmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/HowtoDrawAButterfly.pdf
Then, she decided she would take photos of it with her own camera
And lastly, teach her sister what it was!
*Fun Tip: Consider checking out a book about Monarch Butterflies from your local library, purchase one from Amazon or pull up the Seasame Street Monarch Butterfly episode to help your child learn more*
This Toob was definitely a favorite for Sofia. It features 8 of the world's most beautiful butterflies, including a Red Glider, Green Swallowtail, Orange Barred Sulphur, White Angled Sulphur, Evenus Regalis, Anaea Clytemnestra, and a Papilio Garleppi. Here is how we played with them.
Link to printable: https://preschoolmom.com/wp-content/uploads/PMom/Butterfly/ColoringPages/ButterflyColoringPage3.pdf
This was actually one of my favorites and a great toy for Sofia to continue to grow into and learn with. The Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly is part of the Safariology® collection and is great because it features all of the different stages that kids can touch and see + gives a great explanation in the very back of the packaging. This is how we played with it:
Link to printable: https://preschoolmom.com/preschool-printables/butterfly-preschool-printables/life-cycle-of-a-butterfly-worksheet/
In the end, we had a great time playing with our butterfly collection and we are so thankful to Safari Ltd for partnering with us. Plus use our code BambinaDiaries at check out for 20% off your purchase or visit https://hubs.ly/H0jhx_T0 to enjoy fun activities like these!