{Tuesday's Tip} Notice What is Around You

The other day as my daughter and I were walking on a small nature trail, we had a surprisingly fun learning experience.  You see, my daughter loves butterflies.  She also is one of the most imaginative children I've ever met.  She believes that butterflies are really fairies only we (normal human beings) can't see them, we just see butterflies.  But, if we could see butterflies with magic, we would see the beautiful fairies as they really are.

Naturally, we were looking for butterflies along the trail.  As we were walking I just happened to notice one butterfly hanging upside down from a branch.  It had just come out of the cocoon but wasn't ready to take off and fly away.  While we watched the butterfly I explained what the butterfly was doing and how it had changed from a caterpillar inside the cocoon to a beautiful butterfly.

This turned out to be a special little teaching moment because she was so fascinated by the butterfly.  It was very exciting!  It was a good reminder that we need to take in more of the beautiful world we live in.  Afterwards, we took a trip to the library and searched online for more cool facts about butterflies.  I love watching my kids learn, and it is good to keep their young minds active even during summer vacation.