By far, this is one of the best lessons I have taught in preschool thus far. My little 3 and 4 year old students are fascinated with butterflies and loved every minute of it. Preschool butterfly craft and directions below.

We had so much fun learning about the mysterious life cycle of the butterfly. First, I shared it with a diagram, then we watched it happen in a 2.5 minute You Tube video (below.)

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Finally, right before our eyes, we saw it happen. We arrived at school to find that 5 of our caterpillars had successfully emerged from their chrysalises and were flying about the butterfly cage. Painted Lady butterflies are quite beautiful.

 

Our class meets just one day a week so it was important that we release them in the wild by the end of the day.  But three were still getting ready to emerge. We could see them gyrating, struggling to break free. Before the day’s end, two more were flying around enjoying their new lives. (Sadly, one did not make it.) What an unforgettable experience.

Watch the Caterpillar to Butterfly Video Here ...

Our craft consisted of a template of a butterfly, printed on card-stock and cut out. The students decorated the wings with tempera paint dotted all over using a large marshmallow as a “paint brush.” They dipped the end of the marshmallow in one color and dotted, flipped it over and dipped in a different color.

After the wings dried, they glued googly eyes and pipe cleaners for antennas onto a large craft stick. Then the stick was glued onto the middle of the butterfly wing, as the body. Voila! A Butterfly!

In addition to all this fun, we read the book by Eric Carle: Very Hungry Caterpillar and we also went on a Butterfly Picture Hunt – a simple little treasure hunt that 3 and 4 year olds thoroughly enjoy!