I’ve had fun lately checking out all the great caterpillar-butterfly unit studies available online! There are so many fun activities you can do with a caterpillar-butterfly unit … and what a great way to introduce insects and metamorphosis!
Here are some of the Montessori-inspired printables and activities I’ve found:
Montessori-Inspired Caterpillar-Butterfly Printables
Butterfly Lifecycle Cards (free) from Homemade Montessori
Butterfly/pupa/caterpillar cards (free) and butterfly and moth activities from Beautiful Sun Montessori
Butterfly Printables (free) from Liat’s Montessori
Butterfly Life Cycle Cards (free) and butterfly activities from Montessori Mom
Butterfly Counting Book
Butterfly Counting Book (free number book printable) – part of Small Hands Creating Hope eBook/printable book
Butterfly Nomenclature Cards for Ages 6-9 (Image from Montessori Helper)
Butterfly Nomenclature Cards for ages 6-9 (free) from Montessori Helper
Butterfly Nomenclature Book (Image from Montessori Print Shop)
Butterfly Materials (available for purchase) from Montessori Print Shop
Butterfly Materials (available for purchase) from Montessori for Everyone
Free Butterfly Printables and Montessori-Inspired Butterfly Activities (my post with a long list of free printables + ideas for using free printables to create Montessori-inspired activity trays)
Free Butterfly Printables and Montessori-Inspired Butterfly Letter Activities (my post with free printables, including a Montessori-inspired subscriber freebie pack, + ideas for using free printables to create Montessori-inspired letter activity trays)
Montessori-Inspired Caterpillar-Butterfly Activities
Montessori-Inspired Insect Unit (my roundup post)
Caterpillar to Butterfly Tray (Photo from Little Wonders’ Days)
From Caterpillar to Butterfly (photo), Nature Table, and Hatch Day Butterfly Party from Little Wonders’ Days
Life Cycle of a Butterfly Cards from Montessori Print Shop (photo from Spell Outloud)
Caterpillar to Butterfly Toddler/Preschool Unit from Carrots Are Orange
Life Cycle of a Butterfly
Montessori-Inspired Life Cycle of a Butterfly (part of my life cycle post)
Roly Poly Caterpillar, Butterfly Life Cycle, Handprint Butterflies, Butterfly Theatre, and Parts of a Butterfly from Montessori MOMents
Montessori Homeschooling Tip of the Week from Montessori 3-6 Homeschool
Butterfly Project Outline from Muddle Puddle
Butterflies….updates, activities, and links from Simply Montessori
Butterflies in the Herb Garden from Montessori Muddle
Montessori Video, Infant – Concentrating, Focusing on a Butterfly Mobile from Montessori Child Development Stages: First Year+
Spring Sensory Tub and Butterfly Matching from Counting Coconuts
Outdoor Tent for Butterfly Unit (Photo from The Work Plan)
Beginnings of a Backyard Nature Study (Photo of butterfly tent) and A Field Guide from The Work Plan
Butterflies and Power Magnets (Photo from Mama of Many Blessings)
Butterfly Posts from Mama of Many Blessings (Photo from Lots of Butterfly Work)
Butterfly Play Doh Mat (Photo from 1+1+1=1)
Butterfly Posts (and free printables) from 1+1+1=1 (Photo from Tot School ~ Butterflies)
Nature Shelf from Very Hungry Caterpillar Party (Photo from The Education of Ours)
Very Hungry Caterpillar Party (great for end-of-unit celebration) from The Education of Ours
Where to Buy Montessori Materials (links to sources for suppliers with lots of hands-on materials such as butterfly puzzles)
Caterpillar-Butterfly Pinterest Board
Pinterest – Caterpillar-Butterfly Unit Study
There are more great resources (Montessori-inspired and all types) than I could list here. I have a Caterpillar-Butterfly Pinterest board with many more activities.
A caterpillar-butterfly unit is a wonderful unit for spring or summer. Have fun! 🙂
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maryanne says
May 17, 2012 at 6:23 amWhat a fantastic unit! I love that caterpillar to butterfly tray!
Deb says
May 17, 2012 at 7:17 amThanks so much MaryAnne! I’ve definitely had butterflies on my mind lately. 😉 I think that caterpillar to butterfly tray is awesome, too!
maryanne says
May 20, 2012 at 2:25 pmAnd thank you for sharing this with the afterschool blog hop!
Deb says
May 21, 2012 at 9:38 pmMy pleasure! Thanks for hosting, MaryAnne! 🙂
Carisa says
May 17, 2012 at 7:19 amAwww, look at my little Krash ;-). I love how you dig through and find good stuff Deb! Thanks for sharing!
Deb says
May 17, 2012 at 8:14 amMy pleasure, Carisa … it’s so much fun to look back at earlier posts! Your kids were – and still are – so adorable! 🙂
Paul Harry says
May 17, 2012 at 8:09 amSo lovely photos !
Spring Sensory Tub is my fav. Thanks a lot for sharing !
Deb says
May 17, 2012 at 8:16 amThanks for your comment, Paul! The spring sensory tub is awesome, isn’t it?! 🙂
Mama Of Many Blessings says
May 17, 2012 at 9:15 amDeb
What wonderful butterfly resources! It will definitely come in handy when we get to our butterfly unit again next year Thanks! Thanks so much for including our butterfly posts! Hope you have a wonderful week!
Deb says
May 17, 2012 at 7:22 pmThanks … and my pleasure! I love the butterfly unit you had this year! What a fun unit to do again! 🙂
Kelly at Little Wonders' Days says
May 17, 2012 at 10:43 amThanks for featuring our felt butterfly tray! I was just thinking about this set yesterday as we’re going to start our insect unit again soon. Thank you for rounding up so many great ideas to get me started!
Deb says
May 17, 2012 at 7:23 pmMy pleasure, Kelly! Your felt butterfly tray is awesome! I love an insect unit in the summer … have fun! 🙂
Carolyn Wilhelm says
May 17, 2012 at 6:09 pmWonderful and I had no idea there were so many resources for yong children in this area. You are fabulous! Carolyn
Deb says
May 17, 2012 at 7:24 pmThanks so much for your kind comment, Carolyn! I was amazed at just how many activities I found, too. I finally had to stop before I had the world’s longest post! 🙂
Jamie says
May 18, 2012 at 5:30 amSuch a full unit! We have a ton of caterpillars in our area in the summer and enjoy catching them. I’ll have to revisit this post in a few weeks.
Deb says
May 18, 2012 at 5:41 pmThanks for your comment, Jamie! What fun that you have so many caterpillars in your area! That’s perfect for a caterpillar-butterfly unit! 🙂
Julie says
May 18, 2012 at 5:46 amDeb, This is such an amazing collection of resources! Sharing on my facebook page right now. We have just finished observing our caterpillars as they emerged from the chrysalis state. This week we will learn more about our butterflies and then release them.
Thanks for sharing all these great learning activities. I don’t know which one to click on first. 🙂
Julie
Deb says
May 18, 2012 at 5:44 pmThanks so much for your kind comment … and thanks for sharing on your Facebook page, Julie! How awesome that you’re raising butterflies! 🙂
Misael Vincent says
May 19, 2012 at 12:48 pmI like most The “Life Cycle Of A Butterfly”. Its very knowledgeable to all. Thanks for sharing this informative post with us.
Deb says
May 21, 2012 at 8:39 pmThanks, Misael! I think that’s a great activity, too! 🙂
Lauren says
May 19, 2012 at 10:41 pmI’m pinning this one for when we raise caterpillars again this summer! Oo…pinning and butterflies. That was an unfortunate combination, lol.
Deb says
May 21, 2012 at 8:40 pmLOL! Thanks, Lauren! I appreciate your pinning my post and not the butterflies! 😉
Kim says
May 20, 2012 at 10:44 pmThis is such a fabulous collection of Caterpillar activities. My daughter will love them this summer, thanks for sharing and also for linking up on our Afterschool Blog Hop!
Deb says
May 21, 2012 at 8:44 pmThanks so much, Kim! I love butterfly activities, so this was an especially fun unit to research! 🙂
Jen says
May 21, 2012 at 9:05 pmSuch wonderful ideas! My little man asked me where the caterpillar goes once it becomes a butterfly. (so cute- he’s 2 1/2 and so I answered him the best that I could) I’m glad that he has these questions and is thinking!
Deb says
May 21, 2012 at 9:35 pmThanks so much, Jen! What a sweet question … your son definitely is thinking! 🙂
Jackie says
May 23, 2012 at 6:24 amLove all of this! I just ordered our caterpillars. My son got the grow your own butterfly kit for his birthday gift from a friend. I thought that made such an awesome gift!
Deb says
May 26, 2012 at 5:02 pmThanks so much, Jackie! What a great birthday gift! I just saw my first butterfly of the year today … what a wonderful experience to raise your own butterflies! Have fun! 🙂
Tonya says
May 23, 2012 at 8:57 amThank you for sharing so many ideas for studying caterpillars and butterflies! What a great resource.
Deb says
May 26, 2012 at 5:04 pmThanks so much for your kind comment, Tonya! I love your butterfly post, too. I pinned it to my Caterpillar-Butterfly Unit Study Pinterest board! 🙂
Cathy says
May 24, 2012 at 5:42 amDeb your posts are always so packed with useful resources – thank you. Our caterpillars are just changing into crysalides – so exciting to watch!
Deb says
May 26, 2012 at 5:06 pmThanks so much, Cathy! I’ll look forward to seeing more posts about your butterfly-raising experiences! 🙂
Jae says
May 23, 2015 at 3:16 pmHi Deb! I featured your post in Learn & Play Link Up. Thank you for sharing your wonderful unit. Hope you will join us again next week. 😀
Deb Chitwood says
May 25, 2015 at 10:14 pmThanks so much for featuring my post, Jae! And thanks for hosting Learn & Play! 🙂 Deb