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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Butterfly theme for toddlers: a week of activities

A butterfly theme lesson plan for toddlers: what a day looks like, then the week's circle time (two or three minutes, on laps), books, craft, song, snack, letter and outside time, each with what changes at this age.

Plan this week for toddlersThe whole butterfly week

A day of the butterfly theme with toddlers

  1. Arrival and free play on the floor.
  2. Sing “Ring Around the Rosie” with actions; repeat it while you change and feed.
  3. Hold and pass something real for the week (butterfly), and say its name.
  4. Snack: a toddler-safe version of fruit caterpillar (check the recipe's lines for under-4s).
  5. Outside: a short walk looking for caterpillar.
  6. Read Meg and the Seed on laps, pointing and naming.
  7. Nap, then the song once more at pick-up.

Butterfly circle time

  1. Hello song: sing hello to each child by name.
  2. Look out of the window together: sun, rain or clouds?
  3. Show the theme: hold up something real and name it.
  4. Sing: Ring Around the Rosie.
  5. Read: Meg and the Seed (level 3).

Infants and toddlers: two or three minutes, on laps.

Butterfly theme books

  • Meg and the Seed (level 3, free on peabody.kids): Waiting for something to change, like a chrysalis.
  • Go, Snail, Go! (level 3, free on peabody.kids): A small creature in the garden.
  • Can I Pet It? (read aloud, level 4): A read-aloud pattern book about animals and bees: look, don't touch.

Infants and toddlers: one book, read every day; point and name.

Butterfly craft: Fold-print butterfly

You need (4): paper butterfly shape (grown-up cuts), washable paint, a spoon, a pipe cleaner.

  1. Drop paint on one wing.
  2. Fold the butterfly in half and press.
  3. Open it up: the wings match. Add a pipe-cleaner body when dry.

With a grown-up. No heat, nothing hot.

Infants and toddlers: let them touch and hold the materials while you make it; nothing small enough to swallow.

Butterfly song: Ring Around the Rosie

The words

Ring around the rosie, A pocket full of posies, Ashes, ashes, We all fall down.

Traditional; public domain. From Top 52 nursery rhymes with lyrics.

Butterfly snack

Fruit Caterpillar from the Peabody Kitchen: picture steps, allergy swaps and safety lines on the recipe.

Letter B activities

BbB is for butterfly. Print the two pages (a trace page and a color page).

Infants and toddlers: skip the trace page; show the picture page and say the word.

Outside activity: Caterpillar to butterfly

Crawl like a caterpillar, curl up still as a chrysalis, then fly around the yard as a butterfly.

Butterfly theme for 2 year oldsButterfly theme for 3 and 4 year oldsButterfly theme, all ages

Checked 2026-10-30