Last week we finished up our study of community helpers. We had several centers each devoted to a separate community helper. Here are some pictures of of different centers. I used toys and materials we had already and coupled them with learning activities. Our Doctor station had several books about the human body. Our Firefighter station had an addition booklet and a craft. Our Veterinarian station had a Brain Pop video about community helpers and an online quiz. Our Trash collector station had a craft and our Dental station had a counting activity and a number match activity. Our construction station had a floor puzzle (not pictured) with various construction vehicles. The kids had a blast and actually played with some toys that had been in their closet or toy box and long forgotten so win win in my book!

Wonder what other families did this week? Check out 1 +1+1=1 and 123 Homeschool4Me for many more great ideas.
 
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We released our butterflies this week. It was the perfect day it was a little on the cooler side with a breeze. Butterflies need a temperature of 72 degrees I believe in to be able to fly. So on day five with our butterflies we headed outside with our picnic blanket and our afternoon snack and with a nice 74 degree day we released the butterflies. In past years the butterflies have flown out of the Butterfly Pavillion immediately upon opening. This year since it was a bit breezy the butterflies hung around a little longer and we were even able to release them from our finger tips. Normally we release the butterflies on day four but it was  little too cold this year so we had to wait an extra day. In our area the Painted Lady butterfly is quite common. We purchase the caterpillars from a local Children's Discovery Museum. The kids love checking the caterpillars each morning to see how much they've grown or if they've formed their chrysalis' yet. This year we had two firsts- 1. my husband used a time lapse app to actually record one of the butterflies forming a chrysalis and 2. My daughter and I had the unique experience of actually seeing one of the butterflies emerge from the chrysalis. It tool only about 15 seconds which is why if you turn away you miss it- lol. It seemed every time we left the room a new butterfly emerged.  Here are a few photos from our release.