Fragile yet fearless, pint-sized yet widespread, butterflies are marvels of nature, transforming from lowly caterpillars into majestic beauties through the mysterious process of metamorphosis. Take flight with these winged wonders through a variety of videos, crafts, and interactive programs.
Please note: While Science @ Home activities are designed to be conducted by kids, some little ones might need adult help with reading instructions and preparing crafts.
Butterflies are world travelers! Tag along with these surprisingly spunky insects on a tour of their life cycle spanning thousands of miles. (45-60 minutes)
Calling all caterpillars! Do you have what it takes to become a butterfly? Spread your wings for this interactive program that will help you master the skills needed to be successful as a monarch butterfly—including how to survive an epic 3,000-mile migration.
Academy docent Bev welcomes you to the bola—our 4-story rainforest exhibit—and introduces you to some of the hundreds of free-flying tropical butterflies and moths inside.
In this video, biologist Tim takes you on a tour of the rainforest’s butterfly emergence chamber, where butterflies hatch from their chrysalises and unfurl their wings for the very first time.
While you watch this video, think about the four questions below. Share your answers with a friend or family member or just think in your head.
Transform one piece of paper into two butterfly life stages in this cute, clever craft.
More than just eye candy, butterflies’ beauty serves a vital purpose. Explore how these insects evolved to protect themselves from danger. (30-60 minutes)
Butterflies are easy targets for predators, which is why they’ve developed sneaky strategies like camouflage to help them blend in to their surroundings.
For butterflies, standing out from the crowd can be risky. By mimicking the colors of other icky-tasting butterflies, they can avoid becoming somebody’s lunch.
Print out and color this blue morpho butterfly. Notice the round patterns on its wings? Those are called eyespots, and they are used to trick predators into thinking they’re being watched.
Tired of Zoom calls? Zoom in on beautiful scientific specimens instead! Academy scientists used a high-tech camera called GIGAmacro to create incredible close-up photographs of insects, plants, and feathers, revealing all their teeny-tiny details.
Zoom in on the sunset moth and comet moth. What details do you notice? Use your observation skills to make some sketches and share with a friend or family member, or just admire them yourself.
Butterflies may seem like they’re in a class by themselves, but they’re actually in the same class—Insecta—as insects! Learn more about what they all have in common. (30-60 minutes)
Sometimes nature just makes you want to sing. For Academy educator Kyle, that often means opera! Enjoy this theatrical celebration of an unusually musical monarch butterfly.
In these three activities, you’ll master the anatomy of an insec—and then activate your imagination to invent one of your own!
Listen to instructions (intro)
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Wait, how many legs do insects have? Even though caterpillars have more than six legs, when they metamorphose into their adult stage as butterflies, a lot about their bodies change—including their number of legs! Spot the differences in a butterfly’s stages of life in this craft.
With their incredible spectrum of colors, butterflies navigate a treacherous world in style—and can teach us a thing or two about hue. (30-45 minutes)
The blue morpho butterfly is like a flying, sparkling sapphire. Watch this short video for a glimpse of this exquisite insect.
While you watch this video, think about the three questions below. Share your answers with a friend or family member or just think in your head.
Academy docent Annie lights up the screen as she explains the science behind the sparkle of butterflies like the blue morpho.
This recipe’s pretty cool: Add food coloring and salt to ice cubes for a colorful demonstration of how iridescence works.
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If you’ve metamorphosed into a butterfly maven, you’ll definitely want to land on these extra videos and activities.
With a few household ingredients, you can make an iridescent rainbow materialize before your very eyes. Be sure to ask an adult for assistance.
Many of the butterflies you see at the Academy start their lives in Costa Rica. Learn about how the Academy’s relationship with a sustainable butterfly producer in Costa Rica benefits nearby communities as well as native plants.
While you watch this video, think about the three questions below. Share your answers with a friend or family member or just think in your head.
Please note: This video is in Spanish with English subtitles.
How do monarch butterflies manage to migrate to the same exact spot in Mexico, year after year? Turns out, the answer is in their antennae.
While you watch this video, think about the two questions below. Share your answers with a friend or family member or just think in your head.
Please note: This video is in Spanish with English subtitles.
Academy researcher Durrell Kapan dug into butterfly DNA to unlock the secrets of butterfly mimicry.
While you watch this video, think about the two questions below. Share your answers with a friend or family member or just think in your head.
Enjoy an eclectic array of science content for all ages, from distance learning resources to in-depth livestreams.