Butterfly Life Cycle Craft
This Butterfly Life Cycle Craft is the perfect way for the kids to learn about butterflies while having hands-on fun!
Not only will this teach them about how a butterfly grows and ages but it has them actually creating the life cycle process using playdough as well. Combining learning with actually making is a great way for the kids to really focus on and learn about a certain topic.
We’re all about various life cycles of animals and plants because they’re really quite interesting to learn about. We try to focus on a different life cycle monthly so that the kids get a good learning variety.
If you want more butterfly activities, check my bigger list of Life Cycle of a Butterfly Activities.
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Butterfly Life Cycle Craft
It’s so much fun to teach the kids about the life cycle that animals and insects go through. This part of the learning process is often overlooked because we either see the early stages or the later stages and don’t think about what’s in between.
No matter the age of the kids, this fun life cycle activity is the perfect way to teach them all about butterflies. As they get older, they’re going to remember these lessons and this will have them have great knowledge about it, too!
>> See more Butterfly Learning Activities
Bufferfly Books for Kids
Check out all these fun book ideas for kids! They’re a great way to have the kids turning the pages and diving deeper into the life of butterflies. If you’re wanting to have them spend some more time reading, these books are a great way to make it happen. They’ll easily turn the pages and love to read more.
The great thing about books is that you never run out of them. When we have a topic that we’re excited about studying, we like to supplement with books and read a lot of them.
Below is a small sample of the type of books that you can easily find. Some books are facts while others are just fun and cute stories. The kids tend to prefer a mixture of both so I have no problem with that! The more that they can read, the better!
I often find that a mixture of fiction and non fiction books is really great for helping the kids stay focused and reading as well. When they can sit down and open a book, I know that they’re doing a great job learning.
Books also help to teach kids independent learning which is so important as they grow.
Little Ant and the Butterfly (Little Ant Books) (Volume 1)Butterflies for Kids: A Junior Scientist’s Guide to the Butterfly Life Cycle and Beautiful Species to DiscoverMy, Oh My–A Butterfly!: All About Butterflies (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library)Ultimate Sticker Book: Butterflies: More Than 60 Reusable Full-Color StickersCaterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide (Take Along Guides)Waiting for Wings (Rise and Shine)
Check out our fun life cycles for kids for more life cycle fun.
Supplies Needed for a Butterfly Life Cycle
You’ll just need the following supplies to create a life cycle for your butterfly. It’s such a fun activity to do!
- Paper plate
- Construction paper (green, orange, black)
- Play dough (various colors)
- Paper
- Pencil
- Gluestick
What is the life cycle of a butterfly?
As you can see per the labeled diagram below, there are 4 phases to the life cycle of a butterfly. These phases are eggs, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly.
The kids will be able to create each of the life cycle stages of the butterfly and talk about them, too.
How to expand on this bufferfly life cycle craft
Once you have the kids go through and make this playdough activity, have them do some research on it as well. They’ll love being able to dig deep and find out more about how butterflies grow and develop. And you just might learn a thing or two as well.
I would also recommend heading out the door and seeing if you can find any butterflies in your yard or neighborhood. Now that the weather is warmer and nicer, there just might be some beauties that are flapping and flying around your hood.
Do you want to see more STEM Activities? I have this list of awesome Butterfly STEM Activities that kids will enjoy.
Tips for Looking for Butterflies
Keep in mind that there are a few things to communicate with the kids before heading out the door and looking for butterflies.
The biggest thing to talk to the kids about is to remember that they’re just going to look. Never have them touch a butterfly or try and catch a butterfly as they will hurt their wings which will hurt the butterfly as well.
If you’re out and about walking in the yard, be certain to look where you’re stepping. There might be butterflies on the ground and you don’t want to step on them.
A good place to check out butterflies is near a garden area or flower garden area. They tend to like to be close to those types of environments so it might be a high probability of seeing one or more.
If you can get a book that has different pictures of butterflies, this can be a great addition to take with you! The more that the kids can have a visual to help them identify the different types of butterflies, the more engaged in the activity that they’re going to be.
And when it comes to the types of butterflies in your area, you might not even know what you might find! This is where research is a big deal and really comes into play! Keep track of the different types of butterflies that you and the kids can find!
More Butterfly Activities
These other butterfly activities will be perfect to add to this life cycle activity. If you’re looking for more fun ways to do all things butterfly, add in these ideas and activities.
Butterfly Activities for Preschoolers
Butterfly Books for Kindergarten
Butterfly Life Cycle Coloring Pages
More Life Cycle Activities
Love life cycle learning? Here are some other great activities that will focus on other animals and more!
Life Cycle of a Flower by Homeschool Preschool
Spring Life Cycle Sequencing Sets by 3 Dinosaurs