Butterflies offer an exciting way to dive into many lessons…Metamorphosis and the idea of life cycles, exploring the concept of air a little further, and the use of metaphor to describe life for older students. The best part?? You never know when you are going to see a butterfly! Our backyard has frequent visitors throughout the year…living in a tropical climate sets the setting for butterfly watching year round.
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Books:
My, Oh My- A Butterfly
Who doesn’t like the Cat in the Hat?? In all seriousness though, this book is nothing like the stories we were read as a kid with the Cat in the Hat. This book is jam-packed with information on butterflies and how caterpillars become butterflies.
Inside My, Oh My- A Butterfly :
A Butterfly is Patient
A Butterfly is Patient comes from a beautiful series that grows with your children.
Inside A Butterfly is Patient:
One of my favorites in a series by Dianna Aston and Sylvia Long, A Butterfly is Patient grows with your children. Aston has a poetic style to her writing, with simple lines for younger children, and more in-depth writing for older children. With many different kinds of butterflies labeled and great information, this book will remain a favorite for years to come.
A Butterfly’s Life
Short, simple, to the point and an easy reader! This book is perfect for littles just learning to read!
A Butterfly’s Life is a very easy read. It is a perfect companion on the butterfly’s lifecycle for kids who are at the beginning of their reading journey.
Butterfly or Moth?
Inside Butterfly or Moth? :
Do you know the differences? Well? Do you?! If not, it’s ok, there’s a book for that 😉
Activities:
Clay Letters: “B” is for Butterfly
Making the letter shapes with different mediums really helps the shape to “stick” in the mind. We used clay that doesn’t dry out that we found at Target.
Dot Letters: “B is for Butterfly”
The Measured Mom has great dot letters available. I laminate all my letters and activities and keep them in a binder so I can use them again later.
Butterfly Sort
Sorting butterflies and taking names! This butterfly sort uses the Safari’s butterfly
Butterfly Life Cycle:
A butterfly life cycle basket is a great way to introduce the idea of life cycles because it draws students in with something solid. It’s great to read books, but I always think it is easier to understand a concept if you have something you can hold, anchoring you in the physical. Print an image off of google, grab a butterfly life cycle model (linked below), and leave it out on your shelves for conversation throughout your butterfly unit.
Butterfly Life Cycle Game:
A Freebie from Life Over Cs, the Butterfly Life Cycle Game can be played as a board game OR as a life-size game. Needless to say, we went with life-size….cause bigger IS better when playing with littles!
Butterfly GeoBoards:
I made this geoboard activity to have fun with shapes! The corners that make-up the butterfly line up with the geoboard. Kids can make their shapes and remove the picture to see what remains. I am willing to add my geoboards as a resource, but I haven’t quite figured that part out just yet. Stay tuned! (Seriously, though….if anyone knows how to add downloadables to websites, feel free to let me know the best way!)
Roll and Cover Butterflies:
Roll and cover butterfly activity from Gift of Curiosity. We did ours with glass beads that matched the butterfly colors for some practice with my preschooler.
Coffee Filter Butterflies:
Coffee filter watercolor butterflies. Gather up some watercolors (or markers), a pipe cleaner, a coffee filter and voila! You have a butterfly of your own making!
Magnify and Describe:
With the Dianna Aston books, all you need to do sometimes is break out a magnifying glass! Have your child practice using descriptive language. You can even create an old school venn diagram and have them compare and contrast the butterflies.
Butterfly Puppet:
We got this activity from our Koala Crate! I do love the crates and I hope that we can get back into them soon!
Life Cycle of a Butterfly Wheel:
To bring it all together, we made wheels that showed the life cycle of a butterfly and then my littles described what is happening to other adults in their life (in this case, Daddy 🙂 This particular one is free from Super Teacher Worksheets.
I hope if you are getting into your own butterfly unit, this page can point you to some resources and start you off with some ideas!
Happy Homeschooling!
<3 aer
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Products We Used for this Unit:
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