Butterfly life cycle lesson plans. (With free printable!)

For the littlest of learners, they will remember the lesson better if their whole bodies are involved in the learning.  Read on to learn about our butterfly life cycle lesson plans for preschoolers!  We decided to fully immerse our whole bodies into the butterfly life cycle, and it was a lot of fun.

Butterfly life cycle lesson plans.  (with free printable)

 Earlier in the week I had put together a flower arranging sensory table.  The table included a large block of green florist foam, a couple of small vases, and a plenty of silk flowers.  My son  loved putting the flowers in the vases and in the green foam, and really got excited when I added some toy BUTTERFLIES!

Butterfly life cycle lesson plans.  (with free printable)

We have seen just ONE butterfly so far this year.  At first, he wasn’t sure what to do with them, but after reading some books about butterflies (pictured in the bin) he fed the butterflies nectar and had them flitting around the blossoms.

 Butterfly life cycle lesson plans.  (with free printable)

Butterfly life cycle lesson plans.  (with free printable)

Can you see him making his whistle-flitting noise?  It was pretty darn cute.

 We called Grandma, who lives in California, to ask if she has butterflies in her yard.  As luck would have it, she does, and was kind enough to send us some photos!  Thanks, Grandma, you’re awesome!

 Butterfly life cycle lesson plans.  (with free printable)

She sent us a TON of pictures of all the Monarch Butterflies that have made their journey to chrysalis in her yard!  What a beautiful transformation!  After this I had him color a page I drew on the metamorphosis of butterflies!  (Freebie below!  Enjoy!)

 We read a few poems about butterflies and then got ready for a very special snack!

Butterfly life cycle lesson plans.  (with free printable)

I created a flower cut from cardstock and taped it to a straw so he could “sip nectar” from a flower!

Butterfly life cycle lesson plans.  (with free printable)

The second he saw the flower straw, he needed wings.  Then he was the king of the butterflies, hiding from the rain to keep his wings dry, flitting to the flower over and over to get a “sip of nectar”  Once that started, I knew the lesson had fully sunk in.  I am sure this lesson will be reinforced many times as he sips nectar from flower straws or plays with his sensory table this week.

Sweet moment:  As I put him to nap this afternoon, he said “Goodnight, Mama Butterfly.”

 “Goodnight, baby butterfly.  I love you.”

About Val

Valerie Rose, creator of the blog Collecting the Moments… one by one spends her days cooking, gardening, and homeschooling her 4 children on her urban homestead in rainy western Washington. With camera in hand, she is constantly collecting the moments of life and encouraging others to do the same with activities and inspiration for a simple, creative household. You can find her on Pinterest, Facebook and on her homeschooling blog where she documents all the fun learning her kids do day to day.