Celebrating Butterflies

We began our butterfly celebration by reading and learning about the naturalist and scientific illustrator Maria Merian.  Her story is so fascinating!  She became extremely interested in butterflies and moths at a very young age.  She studied insect life cycles and recorded her discoveries in beautiful watercolors.  After reading about her and looking at her watercolors and prints, we created our very own detailed watercolor butterflies.

Audrey painted a Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Butterfly and a Blue Morpho Butterfly. You can also see the watercolor prints of Maria Merian in the book.

Here is Ethan's Monarch Butterfly watercolor painting and Sophie's purple butterfly. Also in this picture are three wonderful books on Maria Merian and her watercolor prints.