Preschool Caterpillar and Butterfly Theme

On this page you'll find preschool caterpillar and butterfly themed activities for your preschool lesson plans.
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Planning your Caterpillars and Butterflies Theme

Club members can download all of our caterpillars and butterflies products and their caterpillars and butterflies theme planning guide for free! Not a member? Learn More Here

Download our Free Caterpillars and Butterfly Sample Lesson Plan

*Butterfly Symmetry Art

Create a butterfly with a lesson in symmetry with this Butterfly Symmetry craft project from Pre-K Printable Fun.

Egg carton caterpillars

Have your students bring in their old egg cartons, to recycle them into caterpillars. Cut the egg cartons into strips of at least three bumps. Flip them over to decorate anyway you choose. Use items like pipe cleaners
for antennae.

Paper Tube Butterfly

This paper tube butterfly is an easy invitation to set up for preschoolers! Use paper rolled up for the center or paint a paper tube to the desired color.

More Caterpillar & Butterfly Art & Creative Ideas:

Butterfly Life cycle Necklace from Fun A Day
Coffee filter Butterfly from Parenting.com
Caterpillar Craft from Lil' Scholars University
Invitation to create Butterflies from Strong Start

Butterfly Habitat

Transform your Dramatic Play area into a life-sized Butterfly Habitat this week. Add pretend Flowers,  Indoor/Outdoor "grass" carpet, and Butterfly Wings. Cover a Table or a Large Box with Green or Leafy tablecloth.
This Fabulous Butterfly Habitat Dramatic Play space was created by Miss Hope.
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Photo Credit: Miss Hope

Entomologist Lab

Another option for the Dramatic Play Space this week, is to turn it into a Entomologist Lab. Add Posters of Insects, Child Safe Microscopes and Slides. Notebooks, Clipboards and Writing Tools. Add a Butterfly Habitat with Pretend Butterflies, and Caterpillars.
This great space was created by
Mrs. Alexander's amazing Ants
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Photo Credit: Mrs. Alexander's amazing Ants

More Caterpillar & Butterfly Dramatic Play Ideas:

DIY No Sew Butterfly Wings from
Love Laughter Forever After

Caterpillar and Butterfly Block Play

For the construction area this week, consider adding pretend butterflies and caterpillars to your block play area. Add some natural tree blocks to your building space. Adding a variety of pretend plants and flowers will allow the children to create an "indoor garden".

Small World Butterfly Garden

Add pretend butterflies, caterpillars, tree blocks and flowers to create an indoor pretend garden.
For inspiration check out this Butterfly small world play created by fun at home with kids

Butterfly Symmetry pattern block building

Create your own butterfly symmetry patterns using pattern blocks. Our Butterfly mats include a single pattern on one side. Your student practices creating the pattern on the left, and then will need to flip the pieces over to recreate it on the right (without a guide). This is a great task for visual perception which is important for reading and math.
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Butterfly Pattern Block mats from our Spring Pattern Block mat collection.

*Butterfly Letter Puzzles

Practice Matching Uppercase/Lowercase Letters with this set of Butterfly Puzzles  included in the Caterpillar & Butterfly Activity Pack from Pre-K Printable Fun.
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Retell your Favorite Caterpillar/Butterfly Story

Sheena W. of Building Blocks Family Childcare added a The Very Hungry Caterpillar felt set for children to retell the beloved story from Eric Carle. 

Butterfly 3-part cards

These butterfly 3-Part cards can be used in so many ways and are a fantastic way to introduce theme specific nomenclature. Use these as a memory game (as shown above, or in combination with butterfly replicas, or print two sets and separate the word form the photo on one set and encourage students to match them up.
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Caterpillar Name Building Activity

Cut out green circles, and add each letter of your students name to a circle. Have your student create their own name caterpillar by gluing each letter of their name in order to a construction paper leaf. Finish the caterpillar by adding google eyes, drawing 6 legs, and drawing on a face.

Searching for B's and C's

Search the room for items that start with B's and C's!
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Explore My World Butterflies by Marfe Ferguson Delano
From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman and Bari Weissman
Hurry and the Monarch by Antoine O Flatharta and Meilo So
Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin and Lois Ehlert
Bye, Bye, Butterflies! ​by Andrew Larsen
​

Learn about the Smallest & Largest Butterflies & Caterpillars

Do some research and learn more about the smallest and largest butterflies and caterpillars.
Make real-life representations
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Queen Alexandra's birdwing

Roll a Butterfly

Invite your preschoolers to practice number and number word recognition with this Roll a Butterfly activity from the PKPF Caterpillar & Butterfly Activity Pack.  Flip numbers 1-20 and add the corresponding number of butterflies to the jar.
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Caterpillar Cap Color Sort

Put those recyclables to work!  Paint or cover paper tubes the same color as the caps you have, then decorate as desired to create a caterpillar. Then invite preschoolers to sort the caps by color.

Butterfly Sort By Size

Sorting Butterflies by size Activity found inside the PKPF Caterpillar and Butterfly activity pack
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Butterfly Symmetry Puzzles

Butterfly Visual Discrimination Match-Up Activity found inside our Caterpillar and Butterfly activity pack
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Caterpillar to Butterfly Number Match-Up

Discover different types of butterflies and the caterpillars they emerge from! 
This activity from my Caterpillars & Butterflies Activity Pack is a fun way to blend science and math. Children match up the numbers on the caterpillar cards to the butterflies on the mat to learn which butterfly each caterpillar turns into. 
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Counting with the Hungry Caterpillar

Here is a fun and easy DIY activity to compliment the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle contributed by Sheena W. of Building Blocks Family Child Care.
Create a "caterpillar" from a cylinder container (in the photo above the provider up-cycled a container of baby puff snacks). Put stickers that match the items from the book onto construction paper cut into small squares. Be sure to add the same quantity of each food as shown in the book (one apple, two pears, etc.)
Children "feed" the caterpillar the food as they follow along with the story. 
This activity supports 1:1 correspondence as well as counting and sorting.

More Caterpillar & Butterfly Math Ideas:

Butterfly Number Line Activity
 from Mom Inspired Life
Color Matching Butterflies
 from Wait 'Til your Father gets Home
Fingerprint counting printable
from Fun Handprint Art Blog
Free Hungry Caterpillar Number Cards
from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Raise Butterflies

Watch caterpillars make the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly with a Butterfly Garden.
These little guys grow fast and the entire process is fascinating! Encourage preschoolers to record their growth by drawing pictures of what they see each week. 

Release Butterflies

Talk about the natural habitats for your butterflies, release them into your garden once they are ready!

Create a Mini Butterfly Garden

 Plan and create a mini butterfly garden with your preschoolers.
Set it up outside to invite butterflies and other creatures to visit. Check the garden often and observe for visitors. 

You can use many different containers for your butterfly garden. One that can be enclosed, like the one pictured (here is the latest model) is great for observation!

Make Observations in Your Environment

Be on the lookout in your outdoor space for visiting butterflies and caterpillars. See if you can identify the butterflies and track which kind visit. 

Butterfly Life Cycle

Life Cycle of a Butterfly Activity from the Caterpillar & Butterflies Activity Pack from Pre-K Printable Fun
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Sensory Play

This Very Hungry Caterpillar Inspired sensory bin was created by Pre-K Printable Fun Community Member Erica P. of Erica's Educare Learning Center. 
​I love how she incorporated literacy, math, and science in one activity. 

Caterpillar Observations

Club Member Tara K. set up the Caterpillar & Butterfly 3-part cards, and Life cycle near her growing caterpillars for reference. 
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More Caterpillar & Butterfly Science & Discovery Ideas:

Plant a Butterfly Garden with these Free seeds from Live Monarch
Static Electricity Butterfly experiment from A Little Pinch of Perfect

*Find and Punch Letter Match

The find and punch letter match activity is easy to play. Simply flip the card and find the matching letter on the big leaf and punch a hole.  Working with a hole punch requires great strength and hand-eye coordination. Preschoolers love to use these special tools and need lots of hand strengthening exercises. Pre-K Printable Fun
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Caterpillar & Butterfly Inspired Movement

For a fun spin on gross motor activities, use these Caterpillar & Butterfly action cards included in our Caterpillar and Butterfly activity pack
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Invitation to wrap a caterpillar in a cocoon

Set out rotini pasta (caterpillars) and yarn strands. The child can practice wrapping the caterpillars, and unwrapping them for the next student. This activity is great for building bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination, and persistence skills.

Butterfly Art

Break out some play dough or clay and some pretty beads to make fancy butterflies!

Fine Motor Caterpillar Sort

Create a caterpillar out of bottle caps and combine with pom poms for math and fine motor fun!

Make a Clay Caterpillar

Work on rolling clay into balls to assemble a cute little caterpillar.

Butterfly Yoga

Learn the butterfly yoga pose!

Catching Paper Butterflies

Going for a hunt around the classroom to catch butterflies is a great gross motor activity. If you make paper butterflies and hang them around your room with string and tape. Students can use butterfly nets to catch butterflies around the room. To make the activity more challenging you can call out specific colors of butterflies the students need to look for.

What Butterflies live in your area? - Learn More About Your Community

Learn more about the butterflies that are found in your area. Set up an information center,
featuring photos of commonly spotted butterflies.

Visit a Butterfly Garden-Learn More About Your Community

If you don't have a Butterfly Garden in your area to visit, check out virtual field trips online.

Butterfly Breathing Calm Down technique- Self

Ask students to stand tall and spread out their wings like a butterfly. As they spread out their wings take in a deep breathe. Then have them relax their wings by their sides and breathe out. Do they feel relaxed?

Group Discussion: How I'm Transforming

Just like how a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, each one of us has transformed from the start of the school year until now. What is one way you think you have transformed so far this year?

Play a Game Together-Teamwork

Set this activity up for children to engage in with a partner. Children take turns flipping a number card and adding butterflies to the jar. This activity is included in our Caterpillars & Butterflies Activity Pack. 
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Collaborative Art-Teamwork

Ask parents to send in empty egg cartons for children to transform. 
Alternatively, challenge families to build a caterpillar at home using an egg carton as a base. They can then add on paint, color with markers, and glue on recyclables. Display in the classroom. 

Butterfly Walk in your Neighborhood-Learn More About Your Neighborhood

Get to know your neighbors! Take a walk in your neighborhood to look for butterflies.
Chat with a neighbor. Ask them if they've seen any butterflies in their yards, and what kind they saw!

Copycat Game

Butterfly wings are symmetrical. Have your students mimic your movements so they are symmetrical to you. Examples of movements could be: hands on your hips, one hand on nose and the other on your ear, or hands on your knees and bouncing up and down. 

Parent Engagement

Ask parents to share photos they may have of caterpillars and butterflies. Be sure they include any story behind the photos, such as where the photo was taken. Some parents may even have butterfly or caterpillar specimens they can bring in!

Transition Idea

When dismissing students to the next activity, have them become butterflies and "fly" to their next activity. The next time you can have them walk very slowly as if they were a caterpillar.  

Caterpillar and Butterfly Preschool Activity Pack

$7.00
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Spring Vocabulary Sensory Bin & Scavenger Hunt Activities

$3.00
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Spring Rhymes for Preschool Circle Time

$3.00
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Spring Preschool Calendar Display and Games

$3.50
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Spring Measure Graph & Compare for Pre-K

$4.00
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Spring Pattern Block Mats

$2.00
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(Members Only) Spring Printable Crafts

$0.00
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Caterpillar to Butterfly Pre-K Book Companion

$3.00
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Eating the Alphabet Pre-K Book Companion with Fruit & Vegetable Alphabet Game

$3.00
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Learning Centers

Preschool Learning Centers are commonly referred to as Preschool Centers, or Learning Spaces. These are activity areas dedicated to a specific type of of play and exploring a variety of topics and activities. Download our Free set of Center Signs!