When the butterfly first emerges from her cocoon, she will rest on a twig and spread open her wings to dry. Then she will gently flap her wings to warm them up before she takes off on her first flight. Where would you fly on your first flight?
Instructions
- Begin in the “L” pose.
- Bring the bottoms of your feet together with your heels close to your body.
- Open your knees out to each side.
- Extend your neck and the top of your head towards the sky. Stretch your spine long and strong.
- Place your hands at the sides of your head and stick out your fingers for antennae.
- Pull your arms back—now they’re your wings. Breathe in and out as you flap your wings forward and back. Flap your leg wings up and down, too.
Notes for Parents and Teachers
Did you know you have antenna? Remember the times that you’ve sensed something before it occurred, or had a hunch and were right. This is called intuition. Intuition is having knowledge of something you haven’t seen. Our antenna help us achieve this. Try to honor your children’s instincts. It empowers them, and teaches them to trust their inner knowing. It’s an important survival skill to acquire at a young age. Balanced with a sense of love and trust in one’s self, this inner knowing will build confidence and trust that will serve them for life.
Activity Ideas for Home or Classroom
Ecological Echoes
Insects, like the butterfly, use their antennae like reptiles use their tongues. They are like a “sixth sense” to help detect danger, smell, and get a ‘reading’ on things in the air.
Quiet Quests/Visual Vignettes
Close your eyes. Get quiet and listen. Wiggle your antennae around. What do you sense? What do you see, smell or feel? Draw a picture of what you experience with your antenna.
Laughing Language
Take a butterfly journey from A to Z. Think of a place to go that begins with the letter A. Fly there right away. Then think of a place that begins with B and fly there, too. Fly through the alphabet, all the way to Zanzibar.
Brain Balance
Flapping your leg wings up and down and your arm wings back and forth, is kind of like rubbing your tummy and patting your head. It takes coordination and communication between the brain and the body. Practicing your butterflying will stimulate the dendrites (the branches of the brain cells) to grow and make new neural pathways.