Books

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle
“Don’t Worry Bear” by Greg Foley
“Waiting for Wings” by Lois Ehlert
“Arabella Miller’s Tiny Caterpillar” by Clare Jarrett

The Life of a Butterfly (Tune: Skip to My Lou)

I’m a caterpillar, wiggle with me (wiggle)
I’m a caterpillar, wiggle with me
I’m a caterpillar, wiggle with me
What will I be my darlin’

I’m a chrysalis, now sleep with me (pretend to sleep)
I’m a chrysalis, now sleep with me
I’m a chrysalis, now sleep with me
What will I be my darlin’

I’m a butterfly, come fly with me (fly around the room)
I’m a butterfly, come fly with me
I’m a butterfly, come fly with me
That’s what I’ll be my darlin’

Source: Teacher Web

Two Little Butterflies

I use this rhyme with pretty much any animal, most children are already familiar with the actions and get really into the motions.

Two little butterflies sitting on a hill (hold up thumbs)
One named Jack, and one named Jill
Fly away Jack, fly away Jill (move thumbs to behind back)
Come back Jack, come back Jill

Two little butterflies sitting on a stick
One named Slow, and one named Quick
Fly away Slow, fly away Quick (move thumbs slow, then fast)
Come back Slow, come back Quick

Two little butterflies sitting on a cloud
One named Soft, and one named Loud (whisper, then yell)
Fly away Soft, fly away Loud
Come back Soft, come back Loud

Two little butterflies flying through the sky
One named Low, and one named High (raise one thumb up and one down low)
Fly away Low, fly away High
Come back Low, come back High

Itsy, Bitsy Caterpillar (Tune: Itsy Bitsy Spider)

The itsy bitsy caterpillar crawled up the garden wall
Down came the rain and he hoped he wouldn’t fall.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
Then the itsy bitsy caterpillar went on his way again.

Cocoon

You spin a cocoon (spin around)
Then you wait inside (crouch down)
And when you come out
You’re a butterfly! (jump up and flap arms)

How it Went: For this story time I had a wide range of ages, 15 children total all between the ages of 0-8. Lucky for me the littlest ones were movers and shakers and the older ones were more than willing to participate, as far as I’m concerned nothing is more of a Debbie Downer than kids who just don’t want to be at story time!