Science Project Ideas for
Kindergarten and Elementary
The Monarch Butterfly

Please note that detailed information on many of these ideas are available on this website. I have linked them or click on left buttons.

I now have butterfly photo sets available - great to use for bulletin boards, classroom art or home decor. Also, these butterfly raising kits will be a favorite of students.

Easy Fall Elementary Science Projects
Butterfly Theme

• Order live Monarch Caterpillars , either one for each student or several for the classroom and a caterpillar cage or the kids could make their own with ice cream bucket
• Have students collect common milkweed
• Raise monarchs in the classroom - option for middle school and upper elementary to do this at home and record observations
• Study fall Monarch migration - these monarchs will fly to Mexico!
• Check out these butterfly bulletin boards to compliment this elementary school science project

Butterfly Lesson Plans

Here are more butterfly science project ideas for preschool and kindergarten students.

Elementary and Kindergarten Bulletin Board Ideas

Butterfly Bulletin Board Ideas include:

• Interactive butterfly stages bulletin board.


• Monarch butterfly life cycle bulletin board


• Migration Map showing route of Migrating Monarchs from your area to Central Mexico.


• Host plant (caterpillar food) bulletin board.

Butterfly Science Project Ideas
Tips and Activities

• Butterfly Life Stages
• Purchase butterfly photos of Monarch life cycle or use the above link if you have a computer available in the classroom to talk about the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly.
• Raise Butterflies in the classroom....kids love this project! Order butterfly kits or get more detailed information on monarchs and painted ladies in the classroom.
• Milkweed
• Host Plant - Milkweed is the only food of the Monarch Butterfly
• Outdoor activities for kindergarten kids:
• Take a walk to search for Common Milkweed. This is common in "weedy" areas.
• Science Activities - Buy tropical milkweed seeds and let the children plant the seeds in winter to bring home for their garden or use milkweed in the spring to raise monarchs in the classroom.
• Migration
• Using map on bulletin board talk about the Why, Where and How of the Monarch Migration.

Buy at AllPosters.com

• Outdoor activities
• Take walks daily in the Fall and look for migrating Monarchs.
• Use a butterfly net to catch Monarchs and tag them. Order Monarch tags from Monarch Watch Shop.
• Math activities
• Keep track of how many Monarchs you see each day and note the date of the last sightings.
• Graph tagged butterflies including tag number and date of tagging. Check tag findings at this link.
• How many miles do the Monarch travel from your home to overwintering sites in Mexico? How long would it take?

Another great school project for an indoor setting would be a hydroponic raft. You could even grow the necessary milkweed for your caterpillar on a "lettuce raft" and create two projects in one! Access free plans for a raft here: Passive Hydroponics Plans.

Homeschool Science - Butterfly Unit

Art Ideas

• Get a picture of a butterfly and put it on a transparency. Have the students use markers to color it. Put some tape on the underside of the body and stick it to a window (right) for a stained glass butterfly!
• Draw or color life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly - egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly.
• Have the students water color a white coffee filter, then bunch up the middle of the filter with a pipe cleaner for the body and antennae of the butterfly. You can these from thread or string.

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