Butterfly life cycle worksheets
Here we have some butterfly life cycle worksheets for writing and craft activities. These printables are useful for any science or nature-related classes you may have. If you want to teach a class about the life cycle of the butterfly, there is a description of it below and a great short video at the bottom of the page.
The first butterfly life cycle worksheet above has 8 stages for students to describe. This is good for complex writing and also makes for a fantastic homework or research assignment.
Butterfly life stages
There are 4 main stages in the life cycle of a butterfly – egg, larva or caterpillar, pupa or chrysalis, and butterfly. The whole process is known as metamorphosis.
To start this cycle, a female butterfly lays eggs on a leaf. Butterflies are picky about their host plants and need certain kinds of plants to lay eggs. The number of eggs varies from species to species some lay only one. The eggs are usually laid on the underside of leaves.
The eggs then hatch into larva or tiny caterpillars who eat their eggshells as their first meal. The caterpillars then continue to eat the leaf they are on and grow. After more eating leaves and growing, a caterpillar sheds its skin and emerges with a larger one. This happens several times.
Once a caterpillar is fully grown it will attach itself to something from which it will hang and become a pupa. During this stage, it makes an incredible transformation. Its caterpillar body structure breaks down and it grows its wings, legs and other butterfly body parts in its cocoon.
Finally, the adult butterfly will break out of the chrysalis and pump up its wings with fluid it has stored. Once the butterfly spreads its wings, it must wait hours for them to dry out. The adult butterfly then flies away to repeat this magnificent process all over again.
The time this entire process takes depends on the species. The monarch butterfly, for example, takes around 28 days to change from egg to flying butterfly.
4 stages of the butterfly life cycle worksheet
This writing worksheet requires students to describe the 4 main stages of a butterfly’s life. There are four boxes to write in, one for each stage.
The 4 pictures represent the stages of – eggs, caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly.
The butterfly life cycle writing activity
On this worksheet, students can write in more detail. The picture shows 8 stages of the life cycle which students can use as a guide.
There is plenty of space on the worksheet for an in-depth description.
Butterfly life cycle cut and paste
This is a fun kids activity that requires scissors and glue or sticky tape.
Students need to cut out the pictures and words before sticking them in the correct place on the tree.
Note that the finished product looks a lot better if the class cuts around the picture edges, not just cutting out the rectangles.
Once students have completed this activity you can get them to explain the life cycle. You can also give them one of the other worksheets where they can write about it.
Butterfly life cycle cut outs
This printable has pictures of 11 different stages of the life cycle of a butterfly.
The pictures can be cut out and used in various papercraft activities.
One great way to use this sheet is to get students to create a life cycle poster. On a separate piece of paper, they can draw a circle or a tree. Next, they can cut out these pictures, stick them on their posters and label them.
Older students can write detailed descriptions on their poster projects. Once finish students can present them to the class for speaking practice.
