15+ Spring Butterfly Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Last Updated on March 29, 2024 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: Butterflies are a perfect topic for the spring time. These 15 butterfly activities incorporate a fun mixture of science and art.

During the spring time, thousands of butterflies emerge from their cocoons and begin to migrate together towards the west.

If you’ve never seen footage of this, I suggest that you look it up sometime- it’s quite unique!

Every year, our classroom orders caterpillars of our own so that we can watch them create their cocoons and hatch into gorgeous butterflies.

Releasing them into the world is always so exciting for our preschoolers!

Because of this, butterfly activities are perfect to incorporate into our classroom.

These butterfly activities are a great way for toddlers to learn about the unique butterfly life cycle and can be added to the butterfly theme.

15+ Spring Butterfly Activities

Art

Marble Painted Butterflies – Roll marbles around in paint with paper for a fun way to decorate these butterflies.

Big Beautiful Butterflies – This fun activity can involve a group of preschoolers and makes an beautiful classroom display!

Butterfly Shaped Sponge – Use a rubber band to tie around the center of a sponge, turning into a butterfly-shaped stamp for artwork. (Confidence Meets Parenting)

Caterpillar Stamping – Use corks and various colors of paint to stamp cute little caterpillars onto paper. (Sight and Sound Reading)

Sticky Butterfly Craft – Create a butterfly using sticky paper and small pieces. (No Time for Flash Cards)

Playdough

Butterfly Garden – Press butterflies into playdough along with other small pieces. (Fantastic Fun and Learning)

Science

Butterfly Feeder – For a fun science activities, toddlers will put together these butterfly feeders featuring ripe fruit to attract butterflies.

Paper Plate Life Cycle – Create a visual representation of the four stages of a butterfly’s life using a paper plate and various craft supplies. (Homeschool Preschool)

Caterpillar to Butterfly – Use a paper towel tube to symbolize the chrysalis and push the butterfly out to ‘transform’. (Mama Smiles)

Life Cycle Printable – Use these free printable images of the butterfly life cycle to arrange into the appropriate order. (Trillium Montessori)

Sensory

Life Cycle Sensory Bottles – Use dyed pasta in four sensory bottles to symbolize the different life cycle stages of a butterfly for hands-on exploration. (Fun-a-Day)

Butterfly Sensory Bags – These mess-free bags are perfect for toddlers to explore with their hands. (Fun At Home With Kids)

Math

Butterfly Number Puzzle – Download the free printable and work on simple number recognition skills.

Caterpillar Egg Counting – Toddlers will use tongs to transfer pom-poms onto the printable leaf mats to match the written number. (Fantastic Fun and Learning)

Flower Number Line – Preschoolers will roll the dice and count to the correct flower to place their butterfly on for a fun math game. (Fun Learning for Kids)

Butterfly Number Matching – Make copies of the free butterfly printable to work on number recognition and counting skills. (No Time for Flash Cards)

Colors

Felt Build-a-Bug – Cut shapes out of felt for toddlers to build their own caterpillars and butterflies on the felt board. (Teach Me Mommy)

Matching Game – Mix up these cards for preschoolers to match together, allowing them to see how different each and every butterfly can be in color and design. (PreKinders)

Dramatic Play

DIY Wings – Use large pieces of paper and paint to create wearable butterfly wings, folding the paper in half so that the pattern mirrors on both sides. (Mille Idee al Nido)