Many children learn through picture books and visual experiences. Read children a variety of books about caterpillars turning into butterflies, such as "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle, "Harry the Happy Caterpillar Grows" by Cindy Jett, "Clara Caterpillar" by Henry Cole or "The Ugly Caterpillar" by Loretta Lutman. After reading the books, talk with students about how the caterpillar changed into a butterfly in the book.
Ask students to take their knowledge of how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly and write their own story on the process. Have students name a caterpillar and write a short story about how the caterpillar felt going through all of the changes. Encourage students to illustrate their stories with pictures to show the stages caterpillars go through on their way to becoming butterflies.
Provide students with pictures of the various stages in a butterfly's life cycle. Students can glue the pictures onto poster board and label the stages of the life cycle, including a brief description about what happens during each stage. The older the students, the more complex the descriptions should be. For younger students, provide the descriptions along with the pictures and have students match the description with the correct picture before gluing them onto the poster board.
Purchase a butterfly kit from an educational supply company that comes with caterpillar larvae. Set up the kit in the classroom and have students help take care of the caterpillars. As the caterpillars go through their life cycle, keep a class journal or have older students keep individual journals documenting the changes in the caterpillars as they begin the transformation to butterflies.
Create a visual representation of the process of a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. Color an empty toilet paper roll green and brown to represent the chrysalis. Cut a butterfly out of construction paper, decorate it and glue it onto a wooden craft stick. Place the butterfly in the toilet paper roll. Students can remove the butterfly from the toilet paper roll to symbolize the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis.