Here are 15 creative and hands-on life cycle activities that are perfect for Spring or any time. Find life cycle science experiments, crafts, writing activities, and fun ways to incorporate math. Plus lots of free printables to get you started!
Spring Life Cycle Activities
3 Easy Seed Science Experiments
Teach the parts of a seed and plant, the stages of the plant life cycle, and more using lima beans.
Learn How Leaf Shapes Help A Plant Get Light
A fun and easy lab for students to explore how the shape of its leaves helps a plant get light and make its own food.
Butterfly Life Cycle Labs
Find cool hands-on labs and freebies to add to your butterfly life cycle activities. Don’t miss the free butterfly life cycle posters in this post!
Do a Pollination Simulation
This pollination simulation uses mac and cheese powder and is a favorite with kids!
Make Plant Life Cycle Portfolios
Teach the plant life cycle the FUN way and learn creative ways to get your kids writing about science. This post is filled with plant life cycle activities and science experiments exploring pollination, photosynthesis, parts of a seed and more!
See the flower booklet templates here.
Simulate Seed Dispersal
See how to build a simple model to show how seeds attach to animals and spread to new places.
Explore Plant Needs with an Experiment
Check out this plant and animals unit with lesson plans and labs to explore plant and animal needs and their life cycles. The teaching PowerPoint is phenomenal!
Build Models of Bugs
Here is another fun way for students to model pollination by designing an insect, drawing a plan, and conducting a simulation. This lab is part of a complete plant & animals unit for 2nd grade. See more of the unit here.
Build Exploding Seed Pods
Try this fun STEM seed dispersal activity with clever ways to incorporate math!
Make Models of Plant Adaptations
Learn how to use dollar store craft supplies to make simple models of plant adaptations.
Paint with Chlorophyll
Learn how to make chlorophyll paintings! This lab is a must-do and a great way to incorporate art into a plant life cycle unit.
Find Fun Ways to Take Notes About Frogs
Get tips for teaching students how to take notes while learning about the life cycle of frogs.
Create a Life Cycle Garden
See how we turned our hallway into a life cycle garden! Get loads of ideas for lots of different life cycle activities and see hallway displays that are perfect for a Spring open house.
Graph the Butterfly Life Cycle
This is such a fun way to incorporate math while raising butterflies! See how we collected data and graphed the life cycle.
Use Kaleidoscopes to Look Through an Insect’s Eyes
“See” through an insect’s eyes using party favor kaleidoscopes or kaleidoscope glasses to simulate a compound eye.
Make Butterfly Kids
Turning your students into butterflies makes creative writing even more fun! This free writing craft is a great way for students to use science vocabulary as they write personal narratives from the point of view of a butterfly!
Click here for the FREE Butterfly Kids templates.
I hope you’ve found lots of ideas you can add to your Spring life cycle activities and get your students writing about science! Be sure to pin this post for later so you have it when you plan!
Happy teaching!
Kristen
Love the activities and cannot wait to use in my classroom.
Suzanne
I love your website. You have so many great ideas! Thank you for sharing.