A Butterfly’s Life Cycle – Printable

In case you haven’t caught on yet, today’s theme is the life cycle of a butterfly. Yes, a theme for the day, since we’re stuck inside waiting for our service guy to come fix our refrigerator door. I knew last night that I would have to dig deep and find a bunch of stuff to do with Lorelai since we’ve been home almost all week (yes, waiting). She loved learning about the butterfly’s life cycle and doing coordinating crafts.

As you can see above, I created a printable life cycle chart. There are two pages – one is already in full color, and the other is outlined so the little ones can color it in. The full color one can be laminated and hung up. Or, you can do what I did: cut out the circles and have your child put them in order. Lorelai colored her life cycle chart in after.

Teaching about a Buttefly’s Life Cycle:

Egg: A baby butterfly is born from a egg. Go outside, find a leaf, and show your child how a butterfly would lay its leg on the leaf.

Caterpillar: Do an egg carton caterpillar craft, a printable caterpillar craft collage, or a thumbprint caterpillar.

Pupa/Cocoon: Staple one side of an empty toilet paper roll shut. Get a green pipe cleaner, cut it in half, and glue tiny googly eyes on one end. Have your child put the caterpillar inside the toilet paper roll (cocoon) and staple it shut. Hang it from a string somewhere to show that it hangs from a tree. After they fall asleep, remove the staples from one side and replace the pipe cleaner caterpillar with a small butterfly. You could just clue tissue paper wings to the pipe cleaner caterpillar. Restaple shut. Then, have your child open the cocoon in the morning to see how his/her caterpillar transformed into a butterfly!

Butterfly: Make a toilet paper roll butterfly, tissue paper butterfly, printable butterfly, or popsicle stick butterfly.

Insect Lore sells a Live Butterfly Garden. You order caterpillars, put them in the garden, and watch them transform into real live butterflies – all in the comfort of your home!

A Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is a classic children’s book that illustrates the life cycle of a caterpillar in a very fun and colorful way.