Bugs and Butterflies Arts and Crafts

Mirror Butterfly – Fold a piece of construction paper in half and cut it into the shape of a butterfly. Open it up and paint one side of the butterfly. Fold it again and press it firmly. Open it up to reveal a beautiful symmetrical butterfly.

Stained Glass Butterflies – Shave old crayons and place on a piece of waxed paper. Place another piece of waxed paper on top. Hold an iron on top briefly. Cut into a butterfly shape and hand in a window.

Fingerprint Bugs - Have preschoolers press their fingers onto a stamp pad and then press them onto a piece of paper. Let them make as many fingerprints as they want. Using a fine marker add wings, antennae and legs to make bugs.

Egg Carton Ants – Cut apart three sections of a cardboard egg carton to make the body of an ant. Have preschoolers paint the egg carton to look like an ant. Talk about the different sections of an ant's body. Use pipe cleaners to make antennae and legs.

Butterfly Feet – Help preschoolers paint the bottom of their feet. Stamp the right foot down as the left butterfly wing and the left foot down as the right butterfly wing. You want the preschooler's big toes to be on the outside. When the paint is dry, have preschoolers decorate the butterfly with antennae, eyes, buttons, pom poms, glitter, and other decorations. Beneath each butterfly write: "Beautiful butterfly, precious and sweet, strange how it looks like [name of preschooler]'s feet!"

Bugs and Butterflies Math and Science

Hands on Science - Purchase a butterfly, ladybug, or other kit that allows preschoolers to watch insects go through the life cycle first hand.

Bug Walk – Give each preschooler a clean jar or other container. Ask the preschoolers what types of bugs they think live near their home. Go on a "bug walk" outside. Look for bugs as you walk. Have the preschoolers capture the bugs in their jars. If the preschoolers want to save their bugs be sure and punch some holes in the lid of the jar and add some leaves and grass for shelter.

Preschool Bug Activities - How to Build a Worm Farm

After seeing your preschooler express an interest in worms (ie: play with worms), you may be wondering if there are any fun science projects you can do with your preschooler about worms. And yes, there are! You and your preschooler can build a worm farm. With this fun science project, your preschooler can see exactly what worms do to dirt and why they are such an important part of any garden.

Ants on a Log – Have preschoolers spread a piece of celery. Let them place raisins on top of the peanut butter to make ants on a log. Preschoolers will enjoy eating this healthy snack.

Bugs and Butterflies Music and Movement

The Itsy, Bitsy Spider

The Ants Go Marching

Baby Bumblebee

Bugs and Butterflies Pretend Play

Add plastic insects to your bean or sand table for preschoolers to find.

Have preschoolers pretend to be caterpillars by crawling around on the floor. Tell them it is time for them to form a cocoon. Give each preschooler a blanket and have them wrap themselves up in it. Tell them that while they are in their cocoon, their wings are forming and they are transforming into a butterfly. Tell the preschoolers that it is time for them to come out of their cocoon.

Bugs and Butterflies Language and Reading

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey,

Along came a spider who sat down beside her,

And frightened Miss Muffet Away!

Create finger puppets with craft sticks to hold preschoolers interest in the nursery rhyme. Repeat this nursery rhyme often to help preschoolers memorize it. Memorization is an important skill for preschoolers to learn early.

Hi! I'm Rachel Lister, the Preschool Education writer at PreschoolRock.com. I live in Utah with my husband and two beautiful boys. When my oldest son was born, I quit my teaching job and opened a home daycare and preschool. I love to help preschoolers learn about the world around them. They make life interesting and I can't imagine doing anything different. If you have any ideas, suggestions or comments, feel free to contact me.

Helpful Tips for Parents

• Answer "why" questions fully and honestly. A child who gets real answers to their questions develops deeper curiosity than one whose questions are dismissed or oversimplified.

• Screen learning (educational apps and videos) supplements but never replaces human interaction as a teaching medium. Learning happens most efficiently in social, conversational contexts.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should formal education begin for preschoolers?

Play-based learning is the developmentally appropriate educational mode for children from birth through age 6–7. Formal academic instruction (sitting at desks, worksheets, direct phonics drills) before age 6 consistently produces short-term knowledge gains but long-term motivation losses. The children with the richest preschool play experiences often outperform academically drilled peers by age 8, when the developmental advantage of play-based executive function development becomes apparent in school performance.

Related reading: See also our read-aloud guide and our kindergarten readiness guide for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• ✏️ Pre-Writing Development — Drawing, tracing, and early mark-making develop the fine motor control and visual-motor integration that handwriting requires — making every drawing activity a contribution to writing readiness.
• 📖 Story Structure Understanding — Understanding that stories have a beginning, problem, solution, and ending develops narrative comprehension — the mental schema children use to make sense of increasingly complex texts throughout their school years.
• 📚 Pre-Reading Skills — Activities that involve letters, sounds, rhymes, and print directly build the phonological awareness and letter knowledge that are the two strongest predictors of successful reading development.
• 🧠 Memory & Recall — Remembering rules, retelling a story in sequence, and practicing skills to automaticity builds working memory and long-term recall — the cognitive foundation that learning in every subject depends on.

Bugs and Butterflies Circle Time

Turning into Butterflies – Talk to preschoolers about what happens to caterpillars in order for them to turn into butterflies. Tell them that they form a cocoon or a chrysalis when they are ready to turn into a butterfly.

I is for Insects – Ask the preschoolers who knows what the world "insect" means. Tell the preschoolers that it is another name for bugs. Ask them to help you make a list of all the bugs that they know.