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Butterflies are insects-around 30 minutes
Ask the children if they know what type of creature a butterfly is e.g. is it a mammal, reptile, insect or bird? Establish that butterflies belong to the insect family. Then go on to talk about the parts of an insect and give the children some ‘fascinating facts’ from the display material.
Play ‘Butterfly bodies’ game based on the traditional game 'Beetle', - this will reinforce the body part names.
Discuss the difference between butterflies and moths, play optional game ‘Butterfly and moth’ or make a bug hat using the antennae differences and compound eyes as learning points.
Interactive illustration of stages of butterfly life cycle– approx 20 minutes.
Introduce the term ‘life cycle’ and ask the children what they think it means. Then ask what they think would take place in the life cycle of a butterfly. Where would it start? What would come next? Lead the discussion to the idea that the life cycle of a butterfly starts with the eggs being laid on a leaf. Keep including key words and where possible get children to come out and hold up the important words. Then explain that caterpillars hatch out of the eggs and start to munch on the leaves and when they are large enough they form a pupa or chrysalis. The chrysalis stage is where the caterpillar transforms into a butterfly and emerges as an adult. The main purpose of the adult is to mate and lay eggs before it dies, a complete cycle has now occurred. Vary the amount of technical detail depending on the age and ability of the children and remember to make it clear that butterfly species vary enormously in the time scale of their life cycle and that hibernation can occur at different stages in the life cycle in different species.
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