Edible Butterfly Life Cycle

This fun and creative activity helps children visualise a Butterfly’s Life Cycle by encouraging them to think of edible items to represent each stage of the cycle.

This activity would be great for younger children to read alongside The Very Hungry Caterpillar, too!

Don’t forget I have lots more kitchen science experiments to try if you enjoy this one!

The Butterfly Life Cycle

There are four stages in the life cycle of a butterfly, which can take anywhere between one month to a whole year!

Stage 1 – Butterfly Egg

The first stage is the egg. Butterfly eggs are very small and round or oval. If you look carefully, you might even see a teeny tiny caterpillar growing inside them! The actual shape of the egg depends on the type of butterfly inside. Butterfly eggs are laid on leaves.

Stage 2 – Caterpillar ( Larva )

We call butterfly larvae caterpillars. Caterpillars hatch from the tiny eggs in stage 1. Caterpillars mostly eat!

Did you know that mother butterflies lay their eggs on a type of leaf their caterpillars like to eat? This is because caterpillars cannot easily travel to find a source of food they like.

The skin of a caterpillar doesn’t grow with the caterpillar, so they shed their skin several times as they grow.

The caterpillars you can see below are from an Insect Lore Butterfly World set. I would 100% recommend buying one. Releasing the adult butterflies into the world was amazing, and the whole process was fascinating to watch.

Stage 3 – Chrysalis ( Pupa )

Once the caterpillar is fully grown, it forms a pupa or chrysalis around itself. Inside the chrysalis a transformation called metamorphosis occurs.

Stage 4 – Butterfly

Once the process of metamorphosis is complete, the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis!

Female adult butterflies reproduce and lay eggs on leaves, ready for the life cycle to start again.

Egg – Caterpillar – Chrysalis – Butterfly

How to make an edible butterfly life cycle

What you’ll need

Marshmallows, yoghurt raisins – eggs

Sweet Caterpillars, spring onion – caterpillars – you could use two different sizes here to show how the caterpillar grows.

Liquorice, long marshmallows, physalis – chrysalis.

Pasta bows, orange segments – butterfly

Paper plate or use my FREE printable life cycle.

Instructions for Butterfly Life Cycle

Look at all the items you have available and find the best match for each life cycle stage.

Place the items in the correct order on a paper plate and add arrows to show the direction of change.

Ask a friend if they can tell what each stage represents.

Caterpillars often shed their skin and eat lots of leaves. Can you add these stages to your life cycle?

Extension ideas

Try using fruit and vegetables to make a butterfly life cycle model.

Create an edible life cycle for a frog or ant.

Butterfly wings are symmetrical; practice drawing a symmetrical butterfly.

More Science for Kids

Find out what dinosaurs ate by making dino poop!

Make a flowering plant life cycle plate!

Science concepts

Metamorphosis

Lifecycles

Suitable for Key Stage 2 Science

Living Things and their Habitats

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Last Updated on March 10, 2025 by Emma Vanstone