Fall Nature Table And Esperanza's Caterpillar

Today we were blessed with clouds, sprinkles and cool Autumn breezes. It was the perfect day to spend a little bit of time indoors for a change. I cleaned and organized inside a little bit. One of the things I did was clean up our nature table. I try to change it with each season, but this year Spring and Summer kind of morphed into one and we have neglected it a bit. Esperanza continued to add to it throughout the season, but nothing else. It was a mess with all types of flower petals, feathers, sea shells, rocks and other random warm weather items Esperanza has collected over the months piled up, collecting dust.

Yesterday, while we were outside cleaning up the yard, Esperanza found a caterpillar. She wanted to keep it. She's found lots of caterpillars in the past, but never asked to keep one. I agreed. It would be a fun and educational opportunity. She named her caterpillar Arial. I talked to her about the lifecycle of a butterflies. We made a home for Ariel with leaves, sticks and dirt inside of a container. We made a lid with air holes in it and then needed a place for it to be placed for the next few months (after doing some research, I discovered that caterpillars found in Fall will transform into the pupa and will not emerge until Spring). Great, I didn't realize what I was getting into and thought we'd have a moth or butterfly in just a few weeks. Oh well. Hopefully we can keep Ariel alive through the whole metamorphosis process then release her once she emerges with wings.

So, today we placed Arial and her home on the nature table along with a few other 'fall' items. The caterpillar, along with the dozens of chicken feathers, is the biggest difference in this years Fall nature table compared to other years. Fall is my favorite season so our nature table will make several transformations over the next few months with pumpkins, leaves, nuts, sticks, feathers, rocks, pine cones, candles and other fall themed or colored items as well as Halloween decor and any other random thing or item Esperanza and Ezra will collect while out and about. Oh, and Ariel will probably go into the garage once she becomes a pupa (to prevent her from emerging too soon).

Our caterpillar in her home next to some leaves Ezra collected

 A bowl of 'seasonal' yarn adds a little warmth to the space

 acorns, pine cones, feathers, moss, rocks, sea shells and walnut shells