From its humble start as a caterpillar, the butterfly's metamorphosis captivates children of all ages. Kids also love to color, so providing them with free butterfly coloring pages to print is a fun way to help them bust boredom.
Printable Butterflies to Color
There are two original pages featured here, if you need help downloading the printables, check out these helpful tips.
Butterfly on Leaves
The first free coloring page (pictured above left) features a butterfly resting leaves. The butterfly's wings are intricate and offer unlimited coloring options. As a result, you can give the page to children over and over again. Each time they will come up with a new creation. Simply click to download and print.
Buttefly Life Cycle
Our next coloring page educates and entertains and is an easy printable for preschool age and older. It illustrates the life cycle of a butterfly. It has several small pictures to color of each metamorphosis stage.
Ways to Use
Butterfly coloring sheets aren't strictly for coloring. Help your kids get crafty by trying these ideas:
- Use watercolors or fingerpaints instead of crayons.
- Decorate the pictures with glitter, sequins or stickers.
- After coloring the picture, cut it out and glue it to heavy card stock. Attach a magnet to the back to display the picture on the fridge.
- Color the picture and cut it out. Poke a hole in the top of the picture and string a long piece of thread through the hole. Hang the picture from the ceiling or a chandolier.
- Use the "Life Cycle of a Butterfly" sheet as a guide for a homeschool project or nature walk. See if your kids can find real butterflies in various stages of metamorphosis.
- Have your kids search for real butterflies and re-create the butterflies' colors on the coloring page.
- Totschooling.net offers several creative ways to use coloring sheets. For example, turn the sheet into a puzzle or color-by-number, or cut out the pictures and turn them into story puppets.
Other Butterfly Coloring Pages
There's a nice variety of butterflies to print and color online. Here are examples:
- The Butterfly Site has coloring pages featuring different butterflies in various settings.
- Raising Our Kids offers twelve butterfly coloring pages.
- Butterflies are the stars of over twenty coloring pages on The Coloring Barn -- enough to keep kids busy for hours!
- Older kids or even adults will enjoy coloring this butterfly mandala by Coloring Castle.
A Tried and True Activity
Long before iPads and video games existed, kids colored to pass the time. Coloring is a portable activity and great for quiet-time or a lengthy car ride. Coloring butterflies is especially fun for kids because they are familiar with the insect and there are many color options. It's an activity the entire family can enjoy together.
