We are in the MIDDLE of learning all about bugs in my class and by FAR the favorites have been caterpillars and butterflies. They’re my daughter’s favorites too. I think that the fact that you can learn all about the lifecycle at such a young age has something to do with this. I like that as a teacher of really young children I can connect science, literacy, art, music, and movement into one theme so easily.
Here are my favorite caterpillar and butterfly activities for preschool.
Alphabet Butterfly Garden Activity
Coffee Filter & Colored Glue Butterfly
Classic Egg Carton Caterpillars
Books About Caterpillars and Butterflies For Kids
All book lists include affiliate links.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is a classic, that most preschool teachers like myself can recite from memory. It really is a fantastic book, not only does it explain the life cycle of a butterfly it also is useful for a lesson about the days of the week and healthy eating. Children love relating to the caterpillar who eats too many treats and ends up with a belly ache before eating one more healthy leaf and spinning a chrysalis.
Bob and Otto by Robert O. Bruel is a lovely story about 2 friends who must part ways, in this case, because one is a caterpillar who needs to build a chrysalis and the other an earthworm who needs to dig deep into the ground. What I like about this book is that it goes on to explain that the earth worm’s digging is vital for the trees to grow so that the caterpillar can eat the leaves and turn into a butterfly. I like the lesson about how we all play a part!
The Crunching Munching Caterpillar by Sheridan Cain is another story about a caterpillar who is not happy with his lot in life. There is a fair bit of language that some parents would object to. This caterpillar is often reminded that he is too fat to fly- so that poses a few challenges to parents like myself who are trying to instill healthy body images as well as using respectful words with others in our children. I have dealt with this book in two ways, first by saying that the caterpillar is getting fat but it’s a good thing because he will be sleeping for a long time in his chrysalis and needs that fat to live. Also, I have simply replaced fat with big, a word that is much less ugly to many people’s ears.
From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heligiman is part of my favorite non-fiction for kids series “Let’s Read and Find Out Science”. I always grab these books at garage sales and thrift stores. In this edition, you follow a classroom of students observing a caterpillar as it metamorphosis into a butterfly. A classic spring activity for preschool-age children to discover and learn about life cycles. Also a perfect match for your own Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden which I highly recommend and will be doing this year with my son. Reading non-fiction with your preschoolers is important as it teaches them seamlessly that writing and reading are not just for stories but for information too.
Butterfly Butterfly: A Book of Colors by Petr Horaeck is such a wonderful book! I love the simple text and engaging story about a little girl who is trying to find the butterfly that she saw the day before. In her attempts, she finds many other colorful bugs in her garden. At the end of the book is a beautiful pop-up butterfly that will delight your little readers. I read this to a class of 2 and 3-year-olds who were glued to every page and both my kids who are 3 and 7 loved it as well. Great book!
Mary says
I’m a children’s librarian at a public library branch with a monarch waystation. We’re always looking for good butterfly and caterpillar activities so we can teach the kids about monarchs. These will be really helpful. Thank you so much. Your website is the best.
Megha says
Really interesting and fun methods
norma melendez says
love this activities. Thanks
Joyce Sorenson says
Great ideas!
overthumbs says
One Sunday morning, a caterpillar hatches from an egg. He is known as the Very Hungry Caterpillar, who loves eating, and so he begins to look for some food. He eats through increasing quantities of fruit on the following 5 days (Monday through Friday). First it’s one apple on Monday, then two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, four strawberries on Thursday, and finally, five oranges on Friday. On Saturday, he eats an enormous amount of food (which in reality is not for caterpillars but rather being human food), including one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon. Then that night, he gets a stomachache from overeating (from all of those 6 days; Monday through Saturday). But the next morning, it becomes Sunday again. The caterpillar ate through one green leaf. And after that, he feels much better. At the end of that, he is not hungry anymore. He is neither hungry nor a little caterpillar. He is a big, fat, caterpillar. The now-big caterpillar spins a cocoon around himself. There, inside he sleeps in it for 2 weeks. Later, the caterpillar emerges as a butterfly with large, gorgeous, multi-coloured wings.
Myrian says
I am a parent to a 4 1/2 year eager to learn through play child . We live in Costa Rica and Covid, like everywhere has wrecked havoc on our schools. I am soooo grateful to have found your site and for all the amazing things you offer and for free ( another impact of Covid is 80% unemployed in our town). Your materials are wonderful. Thank you thank you, thank you.