Children can show the life cycle of a butterfly through movement. For instance, children can bend down and grab their ankles to represent the egg, wiggle to represent larva, curl up and pretend to sleep as pupa and pop up and flutter to become butterflies. This activity is ideal for bodily-kinesthetic learners.
Make felt cut-outs of objects from the story such as apples, plums, oranges and strawberries. Using a felt board, let children retell the story. Parents and teachers can assess a child's comprehension and vocabulary using this method.
Children can decorate the outside of a sock with fabric circles for the caterpillar's body and pipe cleaners for antennae. Googly eyes can be used for eyes and children can add any other desired touches to their caterpillars. Pull the sock inside out and let children decorate the inside as a butterfly. They can use fabric to make the wings and pipe cleaners for the antennae. With their reversible puppet, children can have a show that retells the story.
Draw pictures of all the different foods that the caterpillar ate in the story. Using a large piece of bulletin board paper or a magnetic chalkboard, affix the pictures at the bottom. Write the children's names on sticky notes and let each one stick their note above the food they like best. You also can glue a magnetic strip to a photograph of each child and let them stick their photograph on the magnetic chalkboard above their favorite food. Ask students which foods were the most and least favorite. Using the graph, make up addition and subtraction word problems.
Give children pictures that show each phase of the life cycle of a butterfly. Make sure the pictures are out of order. Have the children put the pictures in order to show the sequence of the butterfly's life cycle.
Cut an egg carton in half to make the body of a butterfly. This could also be used to make a caterpillar. Cut out fabric or felt wings and glue to the carton to change the caterpillar into a butterfly. The artistic learner can show their creativity with this activity.
Make a butterfly habitat for caterpillars. Butterfly kits can be purchased from a variety of online sources, larvae can be purchased at pet stores and caterpillars can be found in nature. Fill an aquarium or box with twigs and plants that attract butterflies. Add the caterpillar eggs or larvae and cover the top of the container with netting. Children can watch each stage, from egg to butterfly.