Butterfly Life Cycle

What You Need:

• Paper Plate
• Markers
• Dry Pasta: Spirals, orzo, small shells, and bowtie
• Glue
• Crayons

What You Do:

1. Start off with a plain white paper plate.
2. In the center of the paper plate, write the title “The Life Cycle of a Butterfly” in marker.
3. Draw a leaf with crayon or marker at the top center of the plate, under the ridged section. The leaf should be large enough to hold several pieces of orzo.
4. Label the leaf “eggs” and glue 4-5 pieces of orzo to the leaf.
5. At the 3:00 position of the plate draw another green leaf, labeling this one “larva." Place and glue a piece of spiral pasta on top of the leaf representing the larva, or caterpillar, phase.
6. At the bottom center of the plate draw a brown branch, and label it pupa/chrysalis. Position a small piece of shell pasta so that it appears to be “hanging” from the branch. This piece represents the chrysalis.
7. At the 9:00 position draw a couple of leaves and some flowers. Place and glue a piece of bowtie pasta on or slightly above the flowers. Label this “adult butterfly."
8. In between each section draw a red arrow pointing to the next stage in a clockwise direction.

Share your creation with a friend and then go on a nature walk and see if you can find any of the stages of this amazing life cycle!