Activity
Make a Butterfly Habitat
How would your child like to keep a butterfly as a pet? Create a habitat for a butterfly right in your own home, backyard, or enclosed patio, and your child can enjoy butterflies coming and going all day long! This is actually a simple project that's easy to maintain. It just takes a little patience and some butterfly knowledge to make this real-life science experiment a success.
Grade
Subject
Thank you for your input.
What You Need:
- Netting (indoors only), such as a piece of tight knit mesh or a net colander from a discount shop
- Flat, plastic or wooden tray around 2' x 2' feet (indoors only)
- Butterfly larvae (available at pet stores) or caterpillars (Note: if this is an indoor habitat, it must include caterpillar or larvae)
- Flowers native to your area
- Twigs
- Leaves
- Dirt
- Small plastic dish
- Salt
- Manure (optional)
- Access to the Internet or library
What You Do:
- First, decide on the location of your butterfly habitat. If you have a nice, sunny location outdoors, this should be your first choice. If you will be creating an indoor habitat, make sure you choose a safe location near a window that gets a good amount of sunshine.
- Butterflies are easy to attract, as long as you know what they like to eat. If you would like to attract butterflies, you will need to provide nectar plants (listed below).
- Help your child to do a little research on which butterflies are native to your region. A book from the library or an Internet search can reveal this information easily.
- Next, set up your habitat. For indoors, lay a flat surface board in the size of 2' x 2'.
- Lay down twigs, leaves, and a small plastic dish with a few drops of water.
- Place a few mounds of dirt, with a bit of water on each mound to make it muddy, in different spots around the habitat.
- Mold netting to a pyramid shape for a cover.
- Add larvae or butterflies and watch your habitat daily. Butterflies should lay eggs in and around mud mounds and larvae should go through the entire metamorphosis stage within the habitat.
- For outdoors, follow Step 4, excluding the netting part.
- Remember to replenish the food supply for your critters often so they can continue to get nutrition and grow. The indoor and outdoor habitat should get a sprinkling of water from time to time if the conditions are dry.
Butterfly Facts:
- Many butterfly species like these plants: butterfly bush, beauty bush, sunflowers, zinnias, snapdragons, lilacs, milk thistle.
- Larvae like leafy green vegetation.
- The body of a butterfly is divided into 3 main parts: thead, thorax (chest), and abdomen (bottom).
- Butterflies have 6 legs and 4 large, scaly wings.
- Butterflies go through four stages in life: egg, larvae (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and butterfly.
- Butterflies live on nectar and pollen.
- There are over 28,000 species of butterflies in the world.
Related learning resources
Make Butterfly Bracelets
Worksheet
Make Butterfly Bracelets
Butterfly fans will love this fun craft project that they can wear!
kindergarten
Arts & crafts
Worksheet
Create a Shoebox Habitat
Activity
Create a Shoebox Habitat
Create a shoebox habitat with your child to put those budding creative instincts to good use.
1st grade
Science
Activity
Make it Match: Butterfly Symmetry
Worksheet
Make it Match: Butterfly Symmetry
Bring geometry to life for your young ones with this butterfly symmetry activity that doubles as a coloring page!
1st grade
Math
Worksheet
Butterfly Art
Worksheet
Butterfly Art
Color in a unique piece of butterfly-inspired art.
1st grade
Worksheet
Butterfly Mask
Worksheet
Butterfly Mask
Flutter into the New Year with a butterfly masquerade mask.
1st grade
Arts & crafts
Worksheet
Salad Butterfly
Activity
Salad Butterfly
This beautiful salad looks like a butterfly and tastes like your favorite vegetables!
1st grade
Activity
How to Draw a Shape Butterfly
Worksheet
How to Draw a Shape Butterfly
This beautiful butterfly has some shapely wings! Use straight lines instead of curved ones to learn to draw this unique butterfly.
1st grade
Worksheet
Mindfulness: Butterfly Breath
Lesson plan
Mindfulness: Butterfly Breath
In this lesson, a butterfly helps teach students about mindful breathing. Learn to use the butterfly breath in three different ways!
preschool
Lesson plan
Color the Butterfly Fairy
Worksheet
Color the Butterfly Fairy
A pretty fairy and fluttering butterfly adorn this fantasy-themed first grade coloring page.
1st grade
Worksheet
Butterfly Activity Placemat
Worksheet
Butterfly Activity Placemat
Find out fun facts about Monarch butterflies and create your own colorful butterfly in this worksheet. Then turn it into a pretty placemat!
1st grade
Arts & crafts
Worksheet
Mindfulness: Butterfly Breath
Worksheet
Mindfulness: Butterfly Breath
Children draw inspiration from the butterfly as they practice mindful breathing, then design a mindful breathing technique of their own.
preschool
Worksheet
Butterfly Cutout Template
Worksheet
Butterfly Cutout Template
Use this simple butterfly cutout template for any of your arts and crafts needs.
preschool
Arts & crafts
Worksheet
See this activity in a set:
Pet Care