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These butterfly life cycle worksheets give children four printable pages for the four stages of the life cycle of a butterfly: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly. Children read a labeled diagram, label the stages from a word bank, cut and glue the pictures in order, and draw the cycle from memory. Every page has an answer key, and you can print in color or in black and white, on Letter or A4 paper.
Butterfly life cycle worksheets to print (PDF)
These four pages show what the generator prints for the butterfly life cycle worksheets: the labeled diagram, the label-it page with a word bank, the cut-and-glue page for putting the four stages in order, and the draw-it page with room for your own pictures. Click any picture for the PDF, or use the generator at the top of the page to choose a single page, switch to black and white, or print on A4 paper.
Life cycle diagramAll four stages, with a sentence each.PDFLabel the cycleWrite each stage from the word bank.PDFCut and gluePut the four stages in order.PDFDraw the cycleDraw and label it from memory.PDF
The life cycle of a butterfly, from egg to adult
The butterfly life cycle has four stages, and children learn it best as a circle that goes round and round:
Egg → Caterpillar → Chrysalis → Butterfly.
A butterfly goes through complete metamorphosis, which means its body changes completely from one stage to the next. The times below are for a monarch butterfly in summer, which is the species most classroom pages use.
Butterfly life cycle stages in order
Stage
What happens
How long
Key word
1. Egg
The female lays a tiny egg, about the size of a pinhead, on a leaf of the plant the caterpillar will eat. Monarchs lay on milkweed.
About 3 to 5 days
egg
2. Caterpillar (larva)
The caterpillar hatches, eats its own eggshell and then leaves, and eats almost non-stop. It sheds its skin four times as it grows.
About 10 to 14 days
larva
3. Chrysalis (pupa)
The caterpillar hangs from a twig and forms a hard case. Inside, its body is rebuilt into a butterfly with wings, legs and eyes.
About 8 to 15 days
pupa
4. Butterfly (adult)
The adult butterfly breaks out, pumps fluid into its wings so that they dry and stiffen, and flies away to drink nectar and find a mate.
2 to 6 weeks in summer
adult
Butterfly life cycle for kids: what happens inside the chrysalis
The chrysalis looks still, but it is the busiest stage. Inside, most of the caterpillar’s old body breaks down, and groups of cells that have waited since the egg grow into the parts of a butterfly: wings, long legs, big eyes and a coiled tongue called a proboscis. A caterpillar has six tiny simple eyes on each side of its head, twelve in all, while the adult has large compound eyes. A newly hatched caterpillar is smaller than a grain of rice, and a fully grown one is about as long as a finger.
Children often ask how many days each stage lasts. The honest answer is “it depends on the species and the temperature,” because warmth speeds everything up and cold slows it down. Painted lady butterflies, the species in most classroom kits, take roughly three to four weeks to go from caterpillar to adult at room temperature.
Complete and incomplete metamorphosis compared
Not every insect has a chrysalis stage. This table helps children see why the butterfly life cycle has four stages and a grasshopper’s has three.
Insect
Type
Stages
Young looks like the adult?
Butterfly
Complete metamorphosis
Egg, larva, pupa, adult
No: a caterpillar looks nothing like a butterfly
Ladybug
Complete metamorphosis
Egg, larva, pupa, adult
No: the spiky larva is very different
Grasshopper
Incomplete metamorphosis
Egg, nymph, adult
Yes: a nymph is a small wingless grasshopper
Dragonfly
Incomplete metamorphosis
Egg, nymph, adult
Partly: the nymph lives in water and has no wings
Butterfly life cycle printable: what is in the set
The generator at the top of the page makes five pages for the butterfly life cycle worksheets, and you can print all of them or choose one. Every page uses simple pictures that children can color, and all of them have a name and date line.
Page
What children do
Skills
Life cycle diagram
Read: all four stages with a picture and a sentence for each
Vocabulary and the order of the stages
Label the cycle
Write each stage name from the word bank (Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, Butterfly)
Spelling and recall
Cut and glue
Cut out four pictures and glue them in the right order
Sequencing and fine motor skills
Draw the cycle
Draw each stage and label it from memory
Making a model of the cycle, with lines for writing
Answer key
A completed label page and sequence page for the teacher
Quick marking
Butterfly life cycle worksheet: how to use it in four steps
Choose the pages. In the generator, pick all four pages of the butterfly life cycle worksheets with the answer key, or one page at a time.
Print. Press Download PDF or Print, in color or in black and white, on Letter or A4 paper.
Teach the stages. Read the diagram together and say the stages in order: Egg → Caterpillar → Chrysalis → Butterfly.
Practice and check. Children label, cut and glue and draw, then check their work with the answer key.
Vocabulary for the butterfly life cycle worksheets
Teach these words before children start the butterfly life cycle worksheets, and use them again when you check the answers:
Word
What it means
metamorphosis
A big change in body shape from young to adult
larva
The young, wormlike stage of an insect, called a caterpillar in a butterfly
molt
To shed the old skin so that the body can grow
chrysalis
The hard case of a butterfly pupa
pupa
The stage where the body is rebuilt, inside a chrysalis or a cocoon
proboscis
The long, coiled tongue used to sip nectar
host plant
The plant a caterpillar eats, such as milkweed for a monarch
migration
A long trip made every year by animals, such as monarchs flying to Mexico
Hands-on activities to go with the butterfly life cycle worksheets
Raise caterpillars: classroom kits with painted lady caterpillars let children watch every stage, and a daily log with a sketch builds observation skills.
Plant a host plant: milkweed for monarchs, or fennel and parsley for swallowtails, gives butterflies a place to lay eggs.
Compare homes: a chrysalis hangs and a moth cocoon is wrapped in silk. Ask children to draw both.
Act it out: children crawl as caterpillars, curl up as chrysalises and flap as butterflies.
Sequence cards: cut the four pictures from the cut-and-glue page and shuffle them for a partner to put in order.
Wikipedia’s butterfly article describes the four stages and the many species around the world.
Butterfly life cycle worksheets by grade
Grade
How to use the pages
Kindergarten and Grade 1
The diagram and the cut-and-glue page: name the four stages and put them in order
Grade 2
The label-it page with the word bank, plus a daily observation log if you raise caterpillars
Grade 3
The draw-it page used as a model, linked to NGSS 3-LS1-1: organisms have unique and diverse life cycles, with birth, growth, reproduction and death in common
Butterfly life cycle worksheets: frequently asked questions
Is a chrysalis the same as a cocoon?
No. A chrysalis is the hard case of a butterfly pupa. A cocoon is spun from silk by many moths, and the pupa waits inside.
What does a caterpillar eat?
Usually the leaves of the plant its egg was laid on. Monarch caterpillars, for example, eat milkweed, and swallowtail caterpillars eat plants such as parsley, dill and fennel.
How many stages are in a butterfly life cycle?
Four: egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa) and adult butterfly. This is called complete metamorphosis.
Which grade learns about butterfly life cycles?
Life cycles appear from kindergarten, and grade 3 develops models showing that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles with birth, growth, reproduction and death in common (NGSS 3-LS1-1).
Are these butterfly life cycle worksheets free?
Yes. Every page is free to print for home and classroom use, with no sign-up. Choose color or black and white, and Letter or A4 paper, before you press Download PDF.
