Animals · for 3–4 years · 4 min read

Ama checks the milkweed

Ama and her grandmother visit the same milkweed plant every few days and find a whole butterfly life cycle. Join in with Ama’s looking song each time it comes round.

Nana Bea lifts a milkweed leaf while Ama, in a coral headband, looks through her magnifying glass at a tiny cream egg underneath.

Ama and Nana Bea tiptoe to the milkweed. “Quiet feet, careful eyes, look up close!” sings Ama. Nana gently turns over a leaf near the top. Underneath is a tiny egg, as small as a pinhead. Ama peeks through her magnifying glass. It has little lines, top to bottom. “Hello, Dot,” whispers Ama.

Ama crouches by the milkweed, smiling, as Nana Bea points to a tiny pale caterpillar under the leaf.

A few days later, Ama comes back. “Quiet feet, careful eyes, look up close!” The egg is gone. A tiny, pale caterpillar sits on the leaf. “Dot hatched!” says Nana. “And Dot’s first meal was the eggshell.”

Dot, now a big striped caterpillar, munches a milkweed leaf beside a crinkled old skin while Ama points through her magnifying glass.

Ama keeps coming to look. Munch, munch! Dot eats milkweed leaves, and only milkweed. Dot grows bigger and bigger. Now Dot has black, yellow and white stripes. Dot has soft feelers, front and back. “Look, an old skin!” says Ama. “Dot grew too big for it,” says Nana.

Ama and Nana Bea crouch by the white fence and spot Dot hanging upside down under the rail in a J shape.

One morning, Ama comes back. “Quiet feet, careful eyes, look up close!” she sings. She looks under and over the leaves. No Dot! Where did Dot go? “Big caterpillars walk away to find a safe spot,” says Nana. They look along the fence. There! Dot hangs upside down under the rail, curled like a J.

Ama sits on the grass and looks up at a green chrysalis with gold dots under the fence rail while Nana Bea sits on the bench.

Next time, Dot has shed its skin one last time. Now a smooth green chrysalis hangs there, with tiny gold dots. “Dot is inside,” says Nana. “Dot is changing into a butterfly.” So they wait. Ama checks again and again, for about two weeks.

Through her magnifying glass, Ama sees orange and black wings inside the dark chrysalis while Nana Bea whispers beside her.

One day, the chrysalis is dark, almost see-through. Ama peeks through her magnifying glass. She can see orange and black wings inside! “Quiet feet, careful eyes,” whispers Ama. “Look up close,” whispers Nana.

A new monarch butterfly with two crumpled orange wings hangs from its empty chrysalis while Ama and Nana Bea sit still on the bench and watch.

Out comes a butterfly! Its wings are crumpled and damp. Dot rests quietly in the warm sun. Ama sits very still on the bench with Nana. Slowly, Dot’s wings open out and dry.

Dot the orange butterfly perches on pink milkweed flowers and sips from one with its long tongue while Ama waves goodbye, holding Nana Bea’s hand.

Flutter, flutter! Dot flies to a pink flower. Dot sips nectar with a long tongue, like a straw. “Bye-bye, Dot!” Ama waves. “Tomorrow, let’s look for a new egg,” says Nana. “Quiet feet, careful eyes, look up close!” sings Ama.

the end

let’s play: put dot in order

Draw or find four pictures: an egg, a caterpillar, a chrysalis and a butterfly.
Mix them up, then put them in order: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly.
Point to the chrysalis. Can you find its gold dots?
Sing Ama’s looking song together: “Quiet feet, careful eyes, look up close!”

talk about it

What was Dot first: an egg or a caterpillar?
Where did Ama and Nana find Dot when Dot left the leaf?
What colour was the chrysalis?
How did Ama look at Dot without touching?

for grown-ups

What this story helps with: A monarch butterfly starts as a tiny egg on a milkweed leaf, hatches into a caterpillar that eats and grows, becomes a green chrysalis, and comes out as a butterfly: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly.

This story practises the four stages of a butterfly’s life and the patience of looking closely, with quiet feet and careful eyes, never poking or picking up. If you see a caterpillar or butterfly outside, look together from a little distance and wonder aloud which stage it is in.

sources we checked

Written and illustrated by the wishyou.today team. Every story is checked for age, kindness, safety and facts before it is published. Spotted something? Tell us on Instagram.

let’s play: put dot in order

talk about it

for grown-ups

sources we checked

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