Lifecycle – Caterpillar to Butterfly
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Lifecycle – Caterpillar to Butterfly
![Caterpillar to Butterfly Poster](http://www.startsateight.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Caterpillar-to-Butterfly-300x213.png)
Four Stages in the Lifecycle of Caterpillar to Butterfly:
- The female lays her egg on a leaf or plant.
- Newly hatched caterpillars are VERY hungry. They spend most of their time eating just like the caterpillar in The Very Hungry Caterpillar
by Eric Carle. The only difference is real caterpillars eat the leaf their mommy laid their egg on, not cupcakes, lollipops, and various kinds of fruit! Caterpillars expand their size by more than 1000 times their original size.
- The caterpillars form a hard skin around themselves. This is called a cocoon or a chrysalis. Inside the cocoon or chrysalis they are all “snug as a bug in a rug” as the book, The Caterpillar
by Judy Kentor Schmauss says. After about 2 weeks they transform into a butterfly.
- After the transformation into a butterfly is complete, it works it’s way out of the cocoon or chrysalis, and shows itself to the world!
Activities for Lifecycle of Caterpillar to Butterfly:
- Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar
and The Caterpillar
- Have your child find the letter B for butterfly and/or C for caterpillar in each of these books (you could read the books and focus on one letter one week, and another letter the next week)
- Practice writing the letters B and C
- Cut out pictures from magazines of things that start with the letters B or C and paste them onto a piece of colored construction paper that you have written a large bubble version of that letter on.
- Make a lifecycle mobile. Using these FREE Printable Caterpillar to Butterfly Life Cycle Mobile Cut-Outs have your child color and cut out the images. I had my daughter write the words caterpillar, cocoon, and butterfly on the backs of them as well. Then using yarn and tape secure them to a paper plate or coat hanger.
- Cut and paste the lifecycle of a butterfly using this FREE Caterpillar to Butterfly Lifecycle Printable
- Watch The Butterfly King
– Educational Docudrama for Children.
This was a favorite with my daughter. She watched it every day for the entire week we had it out of the library.
The Butterfly King covers the story of two monarch larvae and their struggle for survival in the milkweed patch. Most of us are unaware of the daily dramas that occur right in our own backyards! This is done in an engaging way for young children to enjoy. Even my 8 year old was riveted by it.
May 30, 2011 @ 9:25 am
Hi Heidi
I am trying to contact you for the NOBH. You have the most post for the month of May and we wanted to spot light your blog. Please get in touch with me as soon as you can. Thanks for joining in the NOBH. Looking forward to hearing from you:)
June 1, 2011 @ 2:06 am
What a fun post (and sweet photo) about the life cycle of a butterfly…we hatched cocoons a couple of years ago with our kiddos. Great list of extra resources…and congratulations on the NOBH Star Blogger Award!
~Kara at The Chuppies from NOBH
May 22, 2012 @ 10:37 am
I have caterpillars on my dill right now. What a great resource. Thank you for the great post!
May 22, 2012 @ 10:40 am
Thank you Jennifer! ‘Tis the season of bugs and everything nature for us! I will be posting a series of bug resources as we use them in the upcoming weeks; starting with ladybugs, then spiders, bees, crickets & grasshoppers.