Any fans of Eric Carle in the house??? The book I want to highlight today happens to be my youngest son’s favorite book right now. Even at age two, Mason can recite this book word-for-word and he absolutely loves it. Have you read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”?
Years ago the kids and I were playing outside and my 2 youngest children at the time (ages 3 and 2) were fascinated by all the butterflies flying around. So with the help of some of my old teaching resources, I put together a fun Monarch Butterflies craft and activity book that would teach them just a bit more about those “flying objects” they were seeing around our yard. Now, as I see how much Mason LOVES his caterpillar book, I decided to pull out the materials to make it once more. We are 2 for 2 on the success of this craft- all the kids loved it… again!
Here is the craft: The Life Cycle of The Monarch Butterfly
Materials Needed:
- Pasta- Rotini, Shells & Bowtie
- White Beans
- Paper Plates
- Twigs and leaves
- Pen
- Glue
- Labels- Eggs, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, Butterfly
Directions:
- Using your pen, divide your plate into 4 equal parts.
- Add your labels and arrows showing the flow of the lifecycle.
- Begin gluing your items down on each part of the plate.
- First Space- “Eggs”// 1 leaf with 3 white beans
- Second Space- “Caterpillar” // 1 leaf with 1 rotini pasta
- Third Space- “Chrysalis” // 1 twig with 1 shell pasta
- Fourth Space- “Butterfly” // 1 bowtie pasta. Draw antennae with your pen
Easy enough, right???
Here is the workbook: The Monarch Butterfly
6 printable pages with information and activities all about the Monarch Butterfly.
(Click HERE to download your FREE copy)
And that’s it! Fun and educational!
Oh I love this. My son’s kindergarten class had some caterpillars that they got to watch turn into butterflies and then release. They did some life cycle things like this but not quite as cute….just saying.
I love the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar!! It was one of my girls favorites growing up!! Love the craft!!
Thanks Crystal! I appreciate you stopping by!
Hi! Thanks for this great post… I’ve shared it on Facebook. Have you seen my children’s picture book “AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarch’s Tale”? It follows the monarch life cycle its tale inspires kids to reach for their dreams. It’s on sale right now I’m following you by email! GREAT SITE… Bette
This is adorable! I found the picture of the life cycle on pinterest and it linked here, but I couldn’t see the picture here..? I will still follow the directions and do it with my kids!:)
Thanks Becky, for some reason all the picture links are broken so I will check to see if I have the files or I will plan to remake this with my kids soon! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
I am having a hard time downloading the information you put together for the Monarch Butterflies. Is there any other way you can send me the information? Thanks so much. My kids are going to love this!
Caterina
This is fantastic!! I am new to your site and was just browsing around and came across this post. This is will be terrific when we get to flying animals in Science. Thank you so much for sharing!
What a brilliant craft idea…clever and fun.
We raise a butterfly or two every year…As long as you give them fresh food daily it is super simple and it is so fun to watch them hatch from their chrysalis, pump their wings full of blood, and fly away.
Cute idea! My kids would enjoy learning about butterflies. Thanks!
I love this idea!
Just wanted to let you know I gave you two awards on my blog 🙂
Casey
Great idea for something to do with the kiddies.
This is SO cute!! Definitely going in my I {heart} Friday post this week!!
Very cute!! Thanks for sharing the doc- great job!
so cute! I'm totally gonna use this next year for Kate's preschool!
my daughter did this for school. what a fun way to learn about butterflies
What a great idea! My daughter will love this- thanks!
thank you, this is great! every year we gather a few caterpillars, make them a home and watch them go through the phases. Once they become butterflies we let them go. This will be a great activity to add in there. Im always looking for great kids activities, thanks!