Butterflies Lapbook for Early Learners
Your early learners will create a Butterflies Lapbook by completing these activities that cover multiple subject areas like math, art, science, geography, and vocabulary.
This butterflies lapbook is a learning folder for preschoolers, kindergartners, and first graders to learn about the butterfly’s life cycle stages, butterfly anatomy, monarch migrations, symmetry, differences between cocoons and chrysalides (chrysalises), and much more including hands-on extensions of your Lepidoptera Rhopalocera study!
Not sure what a lapbook is? Find out here.
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Resources for Your Butterflies Lapbook:
Library List:
From Caterpillar to Butterfly Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science by Deborah Heiligman & Bari Weissman
Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons **
A Butterfly Is Patient by Diana Aston**
Gotta Go! Gotta Go!: A Picture Book by Sam Swope OR Hurry and the Monarch by Antione O Flatharta
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Caterpillars and Butterflies by Stephanie Turnbull (Usborne) This book is OOP, so if you can’t find it use the ebook version on Open Library, or use National Geographic Kids Look and Learn: Caterpillar to Butterfly or watch a read aloud video of this book here
**Highly recommended for your home library
Online Butterfly Resources
Beautiful Butterfly: learn facts with a sweet song from Jack Hartman
Learn the life cycle of a butterfly with a catchy song
Learn about the body parts of a butterfly
Caterpillar to Butterfly from QuadSquad very thorough video, but your littlest ones may lose interest as it’s 7 minutes long.
The Difference Between a Moth and a Butterfly by Robin Koontz and read by MPH Preschool
Hands-on Resources
Butterfly Life Cycle Teaching Tools OR this set with 4 different life cycles
Insect Lore – Painted Ladies Growing Kit Send in the voucher (when the weather is warm enough outside for the caterpillars to make it through the mail) and receive a cup of live caterpillars. These are usually Painted Lady caterpillars. There are other companies from which to purchase caterpillars, but we’ve had very good luck with the Insect Lore brand–and we’ve ordered them 3 or 4 times. And the butterfly habitat is reusable! (Sadly, we did not have good luck trying to raise monarch caterpillars from another company. I think it might have been because of pesticide overspray from the neighbor’s farm that got onto our milkweed plants, but having the caterpillars die was very sad for the kids)
If you already have an insect habitat and need a refill, use the Insect Lore 5 Live Caterpillars Butterfly Kit Refill
Make a caterpillar to butterfly life cycle sensory bin with different shapes of pasta; use the directions for this clever activity from Parenting Chaos.
If this is your first time completing a lapbook, read this first to learn how to fold your folders to create the lapbook base.
Butterflies Lapbook Activities:
ACTIVITY 1: BUTTERFLY VOCABULARY
Watch the online videos: Beautiful Butterfly and Butterfly Anatomy. Trace the vocabulary words. Cut out the definition words and glue them in the correct place in the lapbook element. Glue into your lapbook.
ACTIVITY 2: A HUNGRY CATERPILLAR
Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Discuss how the caterpillar changes. Complete the “A Hungry Caterpillar book” by cutting out the life cycle stages and gluing them in the correct order. Glue it into your lapbook.
ACTIVITY 3: LABEL THE BUTTERFLY
Read the Usborne book Caterpillars and Butterflies Then trace the butterfly anatomy words and cut them out. Also, cut out the butterfly square. Glue the label words in the correct places. Glue the whole piece into the lapbook.
ACTIVITY 4: MONARCH MIGRATION
Read the books Monarch Butterfly and then either Gotta Go, Gotta Go, or Hurry and the Monarch. Then watch Monarch Migration Facts. Cut out the monarch migration pieces and draw the monarch’s path from Mexico to the US and Canada. Glue the map inside the “matchbook” lapbook element, then glue it inside your lapbook.
ACTIVITY 5: BUTTERFLY SYMMETRY
Use either the black/white or colored Butterfly Symmetry element to demonstrate an understanding that butterflies’ designs and colors are the same on both sides of their bodies. Glue the completed picture into the lapbook.
ACTIVITY 6: COCOON OR CHRYSALIS?
Watch the video of the book The Difference Between a Moth and a Butterfly. Cut out the answers along the dotted red lines and glue the answer inside the book, in the correct position to answer the questions Who has a cocoon? And Who has a chrysalis?
ACTIVITY 7: BUTTERFLY COPYWORK
Cut out the butterfly quote element. Inside the double oval, copy down the quote. Fold in half and glue inside your lapbook.
Younger kids will trace the Letter B and Letter C words on the B is for Butterfly and C is for Caterpillar worksheets.
Bonus activity: Check out these extra B is for Butterfly Activities and Printables
ACTIVITY 8: DESIGN YOUR OWN BUTTERFLY
Cut out the butterfly. Draw designs on both sides of the wings, making sure that the designs match. Color in the designs and glue the body of the butterfly to the lapbook to create a 3D insect.
TO COMPLETE YOUR LAPBOOK:
Cut out the large “Butterflies Lapbook Cover” butterfly and glue it onto the front of your lapbook.
If you send a picture of your completed lapbook and your child’s first name, I’ll add it to this post.
Hands-on Extensions for your study:
Create an edible caterpillar to butterfly life cycle with these instructions from My Joy-Filled Life.
Raise some caterpillars in a special habitat and watch their metamorphosis into adults.
More Ideas for your Study of Butterflies:
Butterflies and Moths Notebooking Page
Butterfly Lapbook Printables
This updated Butterfly Lapbook is now available in the Homeschool Helper Online Shop at a very affordable price
Don’t forget to pin this to your favorite Pinterest board so you can find it again later.
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