The Caterpillar and the Butterfly Activity and Art Project

Hand each child a fist-size blob of white play dough. Have them roll it into a rock.

Give them each thimble sized pieces of yellow and blue play dough, and moosh it together to make green. While they’re doing that, mush your own little piece of blue and yellow together and explain:

Another way to understand the greater powers we will have in heaven is by understanding the difference between a caterpillar and a butterfly.

Roll and shape your green play dough until it makes a little green caterpillar. Let them do the same.

Caterpillars have different sorts of eyes than we do. Did you know that they can’t “process” a human being? Their brains are just not big enough to see humans. They only see dead ahead, and they rely on feelings and smells and senses because their sight is very bad.

Put the caterpillar on the white rock.

He can’t see that this is a rock. Does that mean it’s not a rock?

No.

We cannot see angels and God while here on earth. Does that mean that there’s not a God?

No.

Give out a slightly bigger portion of pink play dough to each kid, and take one for yourself.

Some of you know from science lessons that a caterpillar doesn’t stay a caterpillar. What happens to the caterpillar?

He goes into a cocoon. When he comes out, he’s a butterfly.

Start to shape your pink play dough into a butterfly.

Does the caterpillar know he will become a butterfly?

No; he’s just not that smart.

When he goes into the cocoon, he might think he’s simply ceasing to exist right?

Right.

When people die, sometimes, if they’re being stubborn and silly like that blind man, they think they’re merely ceasing to exist, right?

Right.

Just because the caterpillar doesn’t understand, does that mean he won’t become a butterfly?

No. Understanding has nothing to do with it. God does it; the caterpillar just has to snuggle in and go to sleep.

When we die, God does all the work, right? We just have to get old and go to sleep. When we wake up…we’ll be something far better…

Put the butterfly on the rock next to the caterpillar. Have them do the same.

When the caterpillar wakes up…he’s something far more wonderful. Caterpillars are kind of sluggish and blind and klutzy. They aren’t going anywhere fast. What can a butterfly do that a caterpillar can’t?

He can fly. He is graceful and beautiful.

What about us, when we get to heaven?

We’ll be able to fly…and be graceful and beautiful.

Sometimes God leaves us little hints about what the truth is just by what he does in nature. I truly believe that he made caterpillars turn into butterflies so that we would have some way of understanding death and resurrection in His heavenly kingdom. We can’t really understand what will happen because right now, we’re more like this caterpillar. BUT DO WE BELIEVE??

Yes!!!

Have them all decorate their caterpillar with eyes and stripes and their butterfly with pretty markings

Have them write on the rocks in marker pen:

Hey caterpillar! The butterfly is REAL!!!

Copyright 2014, Mary Kate Warner