Free printable butterfly coloring pages
Butterflies are such beautiful creatures and so much fun to color. With our free butterfly coloring pages, kids can easily bring these creatures to life with color. Each template has a different difficulty level so kids of all ages can enjoy it. For the little ones we have some simpler templates that they can use. And for the older kids we have some more difficult templates that will challenge them a little more. In any case, your kids will have a lot of fun coloring butterflies with our free templates!
Introduction to Butterflies
Most butterflies are diurnal insects. They are characterized by their great variety of colors and patterns. Their beauty has made them one of the most popular insects in the world.
There are about 20.000 butterfly species found on every continent except Antarctica. The world's largest butterfly is the Queen Alexandra Fowlet, with a wingspan of up to 30 cm (12 inches). The smallest butterfly in the world is the western little blue, with a wingspan of only about 1,3 cm.
Butterflies belong to the Lepidoptera order, which also includes moths. Moths and butterflies share many characteristics, but there are some important differences. For example, most moths are nocturnal while butterflies are diurnal. Moths also tend to have paler colors and more monotonous patterns on their wings than butterflies.
The word "butterfly" comes from the Old English word buttorfleoge. The earliest known use of this word dates from the early 15th century.
Butterflies go through a process called metamorphosis to transform from caterpillars into adult animals. Depending on the species, this process can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months.
The first stage of metamorphosis is when the caterpillar hatches from the egg. Then the caterpillar eats and grows until it reaches its full size. When it comes time to turn into a butterfly, the caterpillar stops feeding and spins a cocoon, or pupa, around itself. Inside the cocoon, the caterpillar's body disintegrates and transforms into that of a butterfly. Once the transformation is complete, the butterfly emerges from the cocoon and begins its adult life.
Most butterflies only live a few weeks or months, but some species can live up to a year. Butterflies are found on every continent except Antarctica.
Coloring instructions with butterfly coloring pages
As you can see, there are several stages in a butterfly's life cycle. In the first phase, the butterfly lays its eggs on a leaf. The eggs hatch and the caterpillars come out. The caterpillars eat the leaves and then spin their cocoons. Inside the cocoon they turn into butterflies. Finally, the butterflies emerge from their cocoons and fly away!
Now let's learn how to color a butterfly! We will use this image:
- First we'll give our butterfly some color. We start with a light blue for the body. Then we'll add some darker blue stripes. For the wings we take a light purple. And finally we add some yellow in the middle of the wings.
- Now our butterfly is slowly taking shape!
- Well done! You have now learned how to color a butterfly!
