By Nandini Bhattacharjya, Head Teacher, and Betsy Koning, Teacher
As the children returned to school in the new year, we heard them saying things like “How can I make wings?” and “I want to make butterfly wings.” We had observed the children’s fascination with wings before winter break, so we set out a variety of art materials from which they could make wings and watched as they “flew” out into the yard as butterflies, birds, and dragons. Their desire to make costumes and props related to flight and flying creatures inspired the teachers, who followed the children’s interests to embark on a class project on the topic of wings.
To encourage the pretend play centered on wing themes, teachers made several cardboard stencils in the shape of different animals’ wings. The children used these and large sheets of paper to draw and cut out wings that could be taped to their backs. Each morning, our yard was filled with children soaring, fluttering, hovering, and zooming as they acted out the behaviors of their favorite winged creatures.
As a first step to investigate which aspects of wings and flight would be most meaningful to the children, we explored the many types of wings found in nature and their individual shapes, sizes, and functions. We created a science and discovery table to introduce a variety of flying creatures that might capture the children’s interest. Some animals, like birds, engage in true flight by flapping their wings while others, like flying squirrels or flying fish, jump and use the folds in their skin, flippers, fins, and legs to glide through the air. The table had a sorting game to help differentiate between flying and gliding creatures and several small plastic models of the flying animals. We were excited to see children looking carefully at the flying creatures, and we listened as they described the various wing types:
“The flying squirrel has square wings with paws in the four corners.”
“The butterfly has wings like a heart.”
“Ladybugs have half-circle wings with lots of dots. I like the dots.”
They were starting to think about the differences and similarities between the wings of animals.
The collection of figures on the science table was so popular that it became apparent that we needed more to accommodate everyone who was interested in using them. Over the next few weeks, the teachers provided opportunities for children to make their own models. On the patio, children were given opportunities at the woodworking table to attach paper bat, butterfly, dragonfly, and ladybug wings to their projects. They could also use cardboard, craft sticks, and brads (brass fasteners) to give their animal creations wings and other appendages that were moveable and could flap or unfurl. Some children made multiples of the same animals, creating families and flocks. Others made animals that could have a predator and prey relationship or created a variety of animals that turned into a zoo-like collection. Some of the children went on to draw or make habitats for their animals from design materials. As they worked on their creations, we heard comments like:
“These are hunter bat wings. They are very strong. They are strong because they have things [ridges where the bones are visible] on them.” —Jack
“I am making a flying fish. They don’t have wings; they have fins.” —Henry
“I am making a ladybug.” —Neil H.
“I am making a ladybug too. They have four wings. I also made a flying squid; they have fins.”—Alejandro
The children’s interest in wings had been sparked serendipitously. One rainy morning in the sand area, we found a wet dragonfly. After we carefully rescued it from the soggy ground, the children discovered the insect could not move its wings. Most of them concluded that its wings were broken, but as the morning progressed, they saw the dragonfly start to move its wings. This fascinated the children, and they slowly realized that its wings were wet because of the rain, and that’s why it was unable to fly. As they kept a close eye on the dragonfly, it started to move its wings, and we heard overjoyed voices call, “It’s whirring! It’s whirring! It’s going to fly!” However, even though its wings were moving, it still could not fly. The children were once again convinced its wings were broken. Teacher Elena, who had been reading to the children about dragonflies, knew that being up on a perch would encourage it to take flight and offered this suggestion to the children. They made a perch for the dragonfly on a leaf, and just as we were about to come in for story time, the dragonfly flew into the sky. The children watched joyously and, as they came in for story time, we heard voices saying, “It took him a long time to dry his wings.” It always amazes us how much children can learn when they are given an opportunity to observe nature.
Another day, Deven found a dead honeybee in the yard. After showing it to many of the teachers and children, he and some peers brought it inside to the language table. He wanted to measure its wingspan and see if it was the same size as what we’d seen in photos from Horsefly and Honeybee by Randy Cecil, the book we’d been reading all week during story time. Deven added this to the class’s daily newspaper: “I found a bee. I think it’s a honeybee. It has stripes like a honeybee. I measured its wingspan, and it was very small. It’s dead. We can touch it because it’s dead, and it won’t even sting you because it doesn’t have a stinger.”
The following day, we put the bee under a microscope to allow children a closer view. Here is a sampling of their responses when asked to describe what they saw:
“I see the wing. The wings look bent down.” —Oak
“I see a bee under there. Hi bee! Why it came inside?” —Gavin
“I see like little lines on the bee’s wing. I can still see the lines when I don’t look through the microscope. I see hairs. They’re super little.” —Luma
“I see a huge wing. I just see a wing with stripes on it, no, with lines on it.” —Liam
“I think I see wings. Juju, you take a look, what do you see in there?” —Ajuni
“There’s pokey things on them. Just like cactuses.” —Juju
Each week at story time, the teachers selected a book that would introduce the children to a type of wing found in nature and encouraged them to think about the way those wings work. Glasswings: A Butterfly’s Story by Elisa Kleven gave the children a chance to learn about a new type of insect and to think about the many butterflies they were already familiar with. Mel Fell by Corey R. Tabor, a story about a kingfisher bird, introduced them to a set of wings that seemed to work in the air and under water. Flight School by Lita Judge showed us that not all wings—like those on a penguin or ostrich—are meant for flying. Reading Stellaluna by Janell Cannon presented us with information about the mystifying life of bats. Children wanted to pretend to be these exciting nocturnal creatures and make wearable vampire, fruit, and flying fox bat wings. Some even moved through the yard acting like Stellaluna, an epauletted fruit bat, looking for fruit that they found on our orange tree. Seeing their deep interest in this unusual creature, we played the song “Bats” by Bari Koral at music time, which gave children a chance to act out other bat behaviors. Children used scarves as bat wings and pretended to hang upside down to sleep. The teachers encouraged them to transform into different types of bats, from the tiny bumblebee bat to the flying fox, the largest bat in the world.
As we talked more about bats, questions came up as to the size of each type. We took this opportunity to introduce the concept of wingspan to the children. Using a large ruler, we had them measure life-size photos of bats. Then we measured children’s “wingspans” from fingertip to fingertip, which they found exciting and facilitated their understanding of the word. We also started to look at the size differences between all the animals the children were interested in, from butterflies to penguins and more. Having a measuring tape and a series of life-size animal photos near our documentation board allowed individual opportunities to revisit this activity.
In the art area, we studied the symmetry in butterfly wings and gave children an opportunity to create a symmetrical painting by folding a piece of paper in half while the paint was still wet. During this activity, we heard from Sami’s mother that the wing project had spread to her home as well, and she sent us a photo of several sets of paper wings. When asked about the process she used to make them, Sami said, “I made butterfly wings by tracing my hands.” She then colored the wing-like shapes and cut them out.
Wings inspired other instances of parent participation in the classroom. For example, Roman’s dad came to story time to share his up-close and personal encounters with penguins in Antarctica. The children had many questions for him and learned that penguins use their wings to swim under the water instead of flying in the air. This prompted the question, “Why can’t some birds, like penguins and ostriches, fly?” The children had several theories: Teddy said, “Ostriches’ bodies are too big. It’s so big that their wings can’t lift them up.” “Penguin wings don’t flap like a flying bird,” said Maya. “Ostriches walk and run.”
Maggie suggested we could help the birds get more flight-ready: “Maybe we need some tape and paper wings and attach it to the ostrich.” This seemed reasonable, considering that was what the children had been doing throughout the quarter—making wings to fly out into the yard as owls, pterodactyls, bats, butterflies, and many other winged animals.
Another parent joined us to share her first-hand bird experience, which is such a significant part of learning for young children. Vivian’s mother and the family’s new baby chicks visited our classroom as a type of culminating experience. This allowed the children to see wings up close and to gain insights into why some animals can’t fly even when they have wings.
Through our exploration of wings, a topic based on the children’s interests, we saw them expand their play themes with new shared knowledge, form a stronger sense of community, and build skills across all areas of development. In our approach to this project, we were guided by the advice of Lilian Katz, a pioneer in early childhood education. “Provide lots of opportunities for children’s natural curiosity to manifest itself,” Katz wrote. “With very young children, our role is one of supporter and guide.”
Please take a look at our classroom newsletter on the project: https://bit.ly/WAM-Wings.