Everything You Need to Teach the Life Cycle of the Butterfly
Spring is a great time to study butterflies. Butterflies are pretty, and most children (and adults) love to watch them flutter around. Warmer spring weather means getting outside to enjoy everything that makes spring so awesome - sunshine, birds, blue skies, boat rides on the lake, hiking trails, riding bikes, and watching butterflies. Somewhere around April, we begin to see caterpillars crawling around outside. Some children might not understand that caterpillars become butterflies. Spring is an excellent time to teach children the butterfly's life cycle.
The Life Cycle of the Butterfly
Adult butterflies lay eggs on plant leaves in the spring, summer, and fall. After the butterfly lays its eggs, it takes about four days for the eggs to hatch into caterpillars. The plant leaves become food for the hatching caterpillars. The caterpillars will crawl around and eat plant leaves for about two weeks. Then, they are ready to spin a chrysalis, also called a pupa or a cocoon. The chrysalis is a protective covering for the changing caterpillar. In the wild, a caterpillar will crawl off the plant leaves to find a place to spin its chrysalis so it won't be seen by a predator, an animal that might eat the caterpillar inside while it is inside its chrysalis. Suppose you are watching the life cycle of a butterfly in your home. In that case, you might watch through a netted caterpillar habitat like this one.
Inside the netted habitat, the caterpillar climbs to the top when it is ready to spin its chrysalis. When it reaches the top, it spins a wad of silk. The caterpillar hangs upside down from the wad of silk for about 18 hours before spinning the chrysalis. The caterpillar spends about ten days inside the chrysalis. Then, a beautiful butterfly emerges.
Here is a short video explaining the changes that occur during the butterfly's life cycle.
You'll want to gather various materials to teach children the butterfly's life cycle successfully.
Materials Needed to Teach the Life Cycle of the Butterfly
I highly suggest the mesh habitat above. I've used this several times and the kids have always loved it!
As a token of my appreciation for being part of my email list, I'm offering you a FREE Butterfly Life Cycle Journal. This interactive tool will not only reinforce the facts you teach about the butterfly life cycle but also inspire your students or children to explore the world of butterflies. It's a perfect companion to the mesh habitat, should you decide to get one. Don't miss out, get your free journal by signing up for email updates here.
I have printable activities in my Etsy shop for only $5.00. You can print out as many copies as you need for your classroom or homeschool, but please refrain from sharing with others in physical or digital forms. Please note the copyright information on the copyright page in the file. If you use an activity from my Etsy shop, please direct others outside of your classroom or homeschool back to my Etsy listings so that they can purchase their own copies.
If you want a complete week-long butterfly life cycle unit, I've got you covered. I've done most of the work for you. The Life Cycle of the Butterfly: A One Week Unit of Study for Kids is new in my Amazon author store. In this unit, you will find an overall objective for the week, daily objectives, daily lesson ideas, and plans, links to sites where you can learn all about the subjects you will cover, daily activities, and links for gathering all the needed supplies. My butterfly week-long unit and other publications are here on my Amazon Author Page. You might want to check out my Butterfly Coloring Book while you're there.
More Suggestions for Your Study on The Life Cycle of the Butterfly
I love this poster visual that shows the life cycles of the butterfly, the frog, the chicken, the fish, the turtle, the apple, the pea plant, and the dragonfly.
Now you should have all you need to teach your kids all about the Life Cycle of the Butterfly. Your kids are sure to love this study and they'll want to get outside to check it all out in real life! That's the best part!
