Spring Craft - Life Cycle of the Honey Bee Interactive/Play "Hive" from Cereal Box

Spring Crafts - Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly (Painting & Writing)

Spring Craft - Butterfly Life Cycle - Learning about Metamorphosis

*when finished the butterfly folds accordipn style down into a "caterpillar"

Butterfly Life Cycle Chart- cut into strips small enough to glue to individual Popsicle sticks
http://www.classroomfreebies.com/2012/04/butterfly-life-cycle-poster-charts.html

Basic How-To Here (use the 2nd craft listed for caterpillar-to-butterfly model)
http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/caterpillarcrafts.html

Blue Paint
Popsicle Sticks
Googlie Eyes
Construction Paper (to make antennas) - I could not get pipe cleaners to glue and stay put for anything!

Pipe Cleaner for body and pom pom for head
Sharpie (to draw wings before painting)
Various Paints & Q-Tips - To dot on colors onto wings
Elmers Glue
Mod Podge - to cover over Life Cycle Chart so it stays put
Masking Tape

This craft was mainly one that I did, having my son dot on the colors of the wings.  He wanted to do this craft but I knew he would be impatient for each step to dry/finish.

In the end, this is a craft that doubles as an activity and also a teaching tool for the life cycle of the butterfly and metamorphosis

Spring Craft - Practicing Cutting - Pollination Flower & Insects

Insects to Cut Out
http://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/butterfly-insects-bee-ladybug-vector-760492

Flowers to Cut Out
http://www.vectorious.net/img-hyacinth-vector-art---abstract-background-with-daffodil,hyacinth-and-tulip-10694.htm

Pollination Chart
http://kidsgrowingstrong.org/Pollination

Have child cut out insects and then the flowers

Help put glue tape to back of each thing cut out and let child place flowers and insects on paper

Tape pollination chart to top of picture

Spring Craft - Life Cycle of the Frog - Frog Catching Fly

 Materials

Large Paper Plate
Markers - Green and Red
1 Party Blower
1 Black Pom Pom
2 Small Googlie Eyes (for fly)
2 Large Googlie Eyes (for frog)
Elmers Glue
Frog Life Cycle Chart, found here http://theteacherladies.blogspot.com/p/life-cycle.html
Green Paint
Masking Tape
Adult Scissors

How-To

Use Elmers glue to glue pom pom to end of blower, add googlie eyes with glue (I laid a magazine over the extended blower to hold it open and in place so pom could dry on it, about an hour before we began the craft)

Fold paper plate in half

 Have child color inner circle red for frog mouth, outer rim green

Paste or tape frog life cycle chart to back of paper plate, allowing room for hole for blower
Cut hole for blower


Insert blower and tape in place with masking tape

Paint top of plate and back with green paint (we used a foam brush and acrylic paint), let dry 

Draw on nostrils and affix googlie eyes

Once it is all dry, you can let the child play with the blower

Also, don't forget to go over and explain the life cycle of the frog and metamorphosis  :)

Spring Craft - Life Cycle of the Chicken - Hatching Baby Chick

 Materials

Card Stock (we used blue)
Orange Construction Paper
Yellow Construction Paper
2 Googlie Eyes
Scrapbook Glue Tape
Brass Fastener (or ribbon)
Hole Punch
Markers

How-To

Print out this egg on Blue Card Stock

http://www.sweetclipart.com/easter-egg-coloring-page-799

Cut it out, and cut the egg in half at the midway zig zag

Have child color in the egg

Attach 2 pieces of the egg together either with a brass fastener or by punching 2 holes and tying it together

Cut a bowling pin shaped "chick" out of yellow paper

Have child help you affix the beak with scrapbook glue tape and the Googlie Eyes
Use glue tape to affix chick to back of the bottom of the egg, so it is peeking out

Life Cycle of  a Chicken Chart
http://learningenglish-esl.blogspot.jp/2010/11/life-cycle-of-chicken.html

Coffee Filter Craft - How Flowers Grow & Photosynthesis

Materials:

1 coffee filter
Food coloring in a little water
Small paint brush
Child scissors 
Glue Stick
Construction paper - green for stem & leave, brown for dirt, blue base
11 Beans, dried (we used lentils)
Elmers Glue
Black Sharpie

How-To:

Have child paint the edges of the coffee filter, leave middle white

We used a blow dryer to dry the coffee filter

When it is dry, glue it to the blue construction paper

Have child cut out stem and 2 diamonds for the leaves and the "dirt patch"

Have child help apply the glue stick to stem and leaves and dirt and affix to paper


Add 10 Elmers glue dots to the middle of the flower

Have child put a bean on each glue dot (10 beans)
(Save 1 bean for "underground")

Put one bean on the brown paper with a dot of glue

Draw roots underground and label the flower parts

Copy the photosynthesis chart and paste into Word,  to your size preference and print
Find Photosynthesis Chart here http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/earth3.htm

Then discuss the photosynthesis process with your child

Other resources:

Bill Nye has a great episode on Plants, discussing the process of photosynthesis.  There's even a segment where a car is covered in grass!  My 3 year old loves to watch it and requests it often.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD8L83LOy4k

You Tube is a great source of songs for anything but here are 2 on photosynthesis we like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_uez5WX1o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgYPeeABoUs