Butterfly science theme

Butterflies are an all time favorite unit of study for young learners! In my kindergarten class, we always raise Painted Lady butterflies in the spring and let them go as the kindergarteners are graduating to first grade – so sweet! Or, maybe you are raising Monarch butterflies as these butterflies are now endangered – just be sure to follow safe raising practices so you are helping them prepare for the wild. (This blog has info on raising Monarchs safely.)

Regardless of what type of butterfly you are studying with your young learners, they will be fascinated and will remember the experience. Or, maybe you are studying them at home with your own children! This is another awesome way to experience the amazing life cycle of the butterfly.

I always turn this butterfly experience into a whole theme for my class. There is just so much awesome literature about butterflies and their life cycles, and my students can’t get enough! Here are some great additions to your butterfly theme, both nonfiction and fiction:

We spend lots of time observing our caterpillars and writing down our observations in our butterfly journals (you can grab my version here). We also spend time learning new vocabulary words as we encounter them in our nonfiction books. By the end of our butterfly unit, my students all know the words “chrysalis” and “proboscis”! (Grab my vocabulary cards here.) We have a BLAST learning about how butterflies drink nectar (for us, apple juice) from their proboscis using this adorable freebie from Kelly and Kim’s Kreations (freebie linked here).

Apart from observing our new class creatures, and learning lots of new vocabulary words through books and experiences, I like to go butterfly-themed for my math and literacy centers too! I think we all are more engaged when a theme can extend to all areas of our day.

For literacy centers, we’ll play Butterfly CVC Bingo, sort rhyming words, and practice identifying butterfly related syllables. We write the room with butterfly-themed words while reinforcing new vocabulary, read emergent butterfly readers, and search and find with magnifying glasses to find hidden butterfly sight words! You can find all of these activities individually or in a bundle here. I think it makes it so fun to have all these butterfly-themed centers ready to go! I also add in little butterfly mini erasers to use as game pieces for bingo, and they are always a hit.

As one of the play centers in my classroom, I have a science center. This rotates throughout the year to include lots of fun topics of study, and I try to match it with the season or our current theme. (Seashell science center blog post here.). Of course during our butterfly theme, our science center is all about butterflies! I print out these colorful and informative butterfly posters, and they encourage deeper conversations as my students interact in the center. My students use graphic organizers to jot down their observations and their pictures, and to organize the life cycle of butterflies. I include fun tools such as magnifying glasses to encourage exploration! My students love to go to the science center so much during play centers that we have to make a list of who has visited the center to make sure we can all rotate through! Check out my entire butterfly science center bundle here.

I’ve always been so impressed with the writing and illustrations that are inspired throughout this theme. My students are so passionate about learning about butterflies, that one year I gave them all their own milkweed seeds to plant in their yards at home to help the Monarchs! I’d love to hear what you do in your early childhood classroom in your butterfly theme!!