Butterfly Unit Study

Nothing says spring like watching butterflies float from flower to flower in warming air, or watching fat caterpillars crawl on new leaves. A couple of years ago we did a butterfly unit study and it was one of my favorites! Next month, I am speaking at my local 4-H club about butterflies and butterfly gardens, and I wanted to share all of that information with you, and help you create a fun filled unit study that can be done with several age ranges.



Pre-k-Kindergarten
A Very Hungry Caterpillar Unit Study
For being a young children's book, A Very Hungry Caterpillar is packed with information about the life cycle of a butterfly. The hungry caterpillar starts as an egg, then as a caterpillar eats his way through so many delicious foods before becoming a chrysalis and transforming into a beautiful butterfly.

This is the unit study from Simply Learning we did a couple of years ago. It has counting, measuring, pasta life cycles, caterpillar pancakes, and so many adorable, educational things. This unit study caused my son to really get interested in bugs and worms, and he hasn't stopped being interested!

I will give a disclaimer here: we didn't do everything in the unit study! While her units are beautiful and fun, it can be quite a lot to do, or a lot of ink that needs to be used. I picked my favorite things, and did those. Sometimes I supplemented with other things I found on Pinterest.

For younger kids I suggest the letter pages, color patterns, pancakes, and the pasta life cycle. I added in watercolor butterflies, as well as a coloring book Little Man's aunt gave him that went with the book. We did extra research on different kinds of caterpillars, and took nature walks to look for some.

For Kindergarteners, I would suggest activities like measuring, patterns, days of the week, as well as the life cycle. Picking out a specific butterfly to paint and noticing the correct colors is also a great idea for this age range. Nature walks and identifying the different caterpillars and butterflies is a great idea for all age groups!

A craft idea we enjoyed during this unit, was taking a coffee filter and coloring it with washable markers. Spritzing it with water causes the colors to blend. Add a clothespin and glue on antenna  pipe cleaners, and you have an adorable butterfly craft!

Another extra craft idea for little ones, is pom pom caterpillars. You can learn about colors, color patterns, counting, and the motor skills it takes to glue the pom poms to the paper. For Kindergarteners, you can take an extra step by making a few caterpillars with patterns you requested, and certain lengths ('make a 6" caterpillar with a black, yellow and white pattern' for example).

Older kids
What you need: Books on Butterflies (some suggestions: Lift the flap Usborne book, Kids National Geographic books, Monarch Magic) I also love the Nature Anatomy for all age groups, for identification and basic information. It is also a great resource for watercolor paintings.

This age group is a bit more 'boring', but they can get much more involved in the process of growing a butterfly garden and raising monarch butterflies. My suggestion is nature journaling. While this doesn't take the place of their core subjects (in my opinion, I know some use these themes as jumping off points for all subjects!), it includes more than just science!

For this age group more detailed life cycles (like this one!)  with descriptions of each stage can be made. Journaling the process of growing a butterfly garden, hatching and growing caterpillars to butterflies, etc. can be fun for this age group. The older the child, the more detailed the journaling can be. For the younger elementary, you can get them to draw a picture and label it with a simple sentence, and as they get older they can have lengthier entries. This covers language arts and creative writing as well as science. They can create art, write poems, stories, etc about the the things they've learned.

For all ages: Butterfly Gardening

Milkweed is the plant we think of for Monarchs, and can be added to your butterfly garden. I am on the lookout for plants that will work for my area, as this will be a first time for me planting them!

This site has a long list of great plants for butterflies, along with what kind of butterfly each plant attracts. It includes some of my favorite herbs and flowers like lavender, rosemary, lantanas, sunflowers, and snapdragons, that I'll be sure and include in my butterfly garden this year.

Have your children help you in planning the garden, drawing out where certain plants will go (you can also get a general 'butterfly garden' seed packet from the store), and setting out the plants themselves. Get older students to research what kind of soil, sun, and watering each plant needs and make a plan for its care.

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