Pierre Berton Resource Library, 4921 Rutherford Road, Woodbridge, Ontario L4H 3C2
When Sanam saw that the Vaughan Public Libraries were hosting “Flight of the Monarch” workshops, she knew that it would be a great opportunity to collaborate on behalf of the Underhill Seedsitters. Cynthia and Corina from the library’s bilingual department were running the workshops and they welcomed Sanam with open arms. Sanam brought seedlings, seedpacks and copies of the biodiversity booklets generously provided by the City of Toronto and was joined by Sayeh for the first workshop.
Cynthia and Corina led an exceptional, interactive workshop. They started with the children learning about animals that are picky eaters, which served as a great lead-in for the importance of milkweed for monarchs.
The children had a look at milkweed cuttings we had brought with us, as well as cards with images of three types of milkweed essential to the monarch’s life cycle. We were pleasantly surprised by how much the children already knew about butterflies! I used an activity from The Garden Fun Club book, available as free download that explored the lifecycle of the monarch butterfly and was also a perfect complement to the rest of the workshop as children gathered around the table and arranged cards in a circle.
After that, we learned how to make origami butterflies, which we then flew around the library looking for food sources that the staff had hidden for us in different sections. It was such a joy to watch the children tap their butterflies on each picture.
After out trip all the way to Mexico and back, everybody chose theirs seedlings and seed packets. Some kids were even interested in starting a seedsitting group of their own and were delighted to hear that we could help get them started. What a fantastic way to spend a rainy weekend.
