Get Back to School with Home Preschool Lesson Plans

Caterpillars and Butterflies

Have you often thought about what it would take to teach your children yourself? Do you want to get them ready for preschool and kindergarten and supplement their learning at home? Almost every parent would answer yes to these two questions, but sadly most of us don't find the time. There are lessons to be learned in our own backyard if we know where to look. A simple caterpillar on a leaf can provide a week's worth of learning and activities. Use the caterpillar and butterfly lesson plan below to help your child develop a better understanding of caterpillars and butterflies. Make it the week's theme and incorporate a little bit of the lesson plan into each day's routine.

Caterpillars and Butterflies Lesson Plan:


Tell your child all about the life cycle of a caterpillar:

A caterpillar starts out as a very little egg on a leaf. Soon the egg turns into a little caterpillar. Caterpillars come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some are green, some are black, and some are brown. Some are even shades of red. Caterpillars have a segmented body. Some caterpillars have smooth skin while others are very hairy. But not every caterpillar is friendly. Never touch a caterpillar because he could sting you. Caterpillars eat many different things, but most caterpillars eat leaves. Corn caterpillars like to eat corn. When a caterpillar is big enough he builds a large cocoon, wraps himself inside and enters his pupa stage. When he is inside his cocoon, he is growing and changing. When the time is right, he emerges from his cocoon and he is now a butterfly ( or moth). Butterflies come in all kinds of colors and sizes. They love to drink the nectar from flowers in your garden. When a butterfly is ready, she will lay an egg on a leaf one night that will turn into a caterpillar again.

FUN GAMES and OUTINGS:

Ask your toddler or preschooler to show you how a caterpillar moves.

How does a Butterfly move?

Take a large blanket and have your preschooler pretend she is a little caterpillar building her cocoon. Wrap her in the blanket and have her emerge as a beautiful butterfly.