5 Butterfly Themed Educational Activities for Kids
The life cycle of the butterfly can be a wonderful educational experience for kids. You can purchase inexpensive butterfly growing kits online, or can make a lesson out of the ones that come to visit your yard. Either way, butterflies offer lessons in science, math, and even the environment as a whole. Take a look below at 5 butterfly themed educational activities for kids that you can enjoy with your children. They are so easy, frugal, and fun to enjoy!
1. The Butterfly Life Cycle
Butterflies grow in a very distinct circle of development. They start off as a caterpillar, then morph into a chrysalis, then open up into a butterfly. This change is quite dramatic from start to finish! Take the time to study this developmental cycle. Observe and research caterpillars, the various chrysalises, then finished butterflies. Note the changes that the butterfly’s body goes through. You can then create your own butterfly life cycle using sketches or cut out images of the three stages and some poster board.
2. Butterfly Math
Butterflies are a great tool to use when teaching math skills such as symmetry and measurement. You can find various pictures of butterflies in books and use them as samples to measure. This will not only help kids get an idea of their size and wing span, but give them practice with tools of measurement. When teaching symmetry, butterflies are wonderful examples of an object having equal sides!
3. Butterfly Mobile
Find pictures of the butterfly life cycle online or in books. Make color copies of the various cycles (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly) and cut them out. Attach them to string and tie them onto a coat hanger. You now have a very fun and visual butterfly mobile. This can be used for students to retell the life cycle of the butterfly, helping them develop a deeper understanding of the cycle and the time and order of events.
4. Butterfly Journaling*
Give children an inexpensive journal to decorate and record the happenings of butterflies either in their growing kit or own backyard. Use the journals for note taking, data recording, or even sketches. This activity helps children organize data and information as well as utilize some important writing skills.
5. Butterfly Word Wall
Introduce some new vocabulary to children when you create a butterfly word wall. On colorful note cards write new words such as chrysalis, proboscis, nectar, etc. These words are ones you can review often on the word wall and even draw pictures to help define.
*Click the image below to download your own Butterfly Journal for your children today …
See how easy it can be to turn butterflies into family fun lessons? Give these activities a try and make butterflies an incredible learning experience.
WE made a similar journal for birds a few years ago. What a great idea to make a mobile!
Great ideas. Love the journal idea.
Those are all great ideas and I love the butterfly math one. I am all for making it a learning experience for my kids.
We’d have to study dragonflies around here. We see so many of them in our backyard. Maybe because of the creek?
This is great.I love the journal idea.This post also made me think that i have only seen 1 butterfly this year so far.
Kiddo loves butterflies. At our house they hang out in our fairy garden. She is 9 and just amazed by their beauty and creation. Especially now that shes understanding her science classes a little better and understands the changes a butterfly goes through. Shes just amazed by it all.
Such fun ideas! My daughter’s room is done in butterflies. I bet she would love a butterfly word wall!
My niece will LOVE this, she loves butterflies! Thanks for the ideas!
Great ideas! My son has been really interested in butterflies lately.
This would be great for my girls to learn about! Nice printable too!
These are such great idea! My daughter is butterfly obsessed! I will have to ask her if she is interested in any of these!
I love the idea of a butterfly journal. My son is currently afraid of insects and butterflies (he’s 2. I don’t know where the fear came from.) He’s slowly coming around to the butterflies.
My girls would love this. It’s a great way to supplement this summer with something they are interested in..butterflies!
We’ve done the lifecycle of the butterfly. My boys really enjoyed it!
We did something related to the life cycle. We made a small book. I’d love to actually get a kit one day to see it in real life though.
We planted a butterfly garden this year and this will be a great addition to our summer learning! This will be enjoyed by both me and the kiddos. 🙂
Butterflies are so beautiful! What a fun idea!
I would of loved this when I was 10 because I had a butterfly obsession thanks to Mariah Carey! These are a lot of creative ideas to make butterlies educational!
I love these ideas! I can see a whole play focused on butterflies with the kids!
Those are fun! Butterflies are so beautiful.
butterflies have so many meanings. love how you made it educational
These are great ideas. I especially love the journaling idea.
I love the idea of a butterfly mobile with all the stages. That’s such a great visual for kids to cement the ideas!
My kids love butterflies. We have done the butterfly habitat in the past and they really enjoyed the experience.
I still love butterflies! They’re so awesome.
The journaling is a great idea. I really love the Butterfly Hatching Kits too.
I love anything having to do with butterflies. We did the butterfly garden with my toddler last year and she loved it. Every time the commercial comes on TV she points at it. Maybe I might do another.
My daughters would really love the butterfly lifecycle. My oldest is obsessed with life cycles.
We just visited the butterfly palace (in Branson, MO). I loved using it as a learning experience with my kids, discussing the life cycle of a butterfly.
What a fun idea! My son is really intrigued by butterflies. They talked about them a lot at his school.
I think that if there was more butterfly math and less core math {or whatever it’s called, thankfully my daughter missed that}, the world would be a better place. Love your ideas.