We recently purchased
Insect Lore's Butterfly Garden so that we could watch the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. What a fun and easy kit! The caterpillars ship with food so you basically just have to watch them for the first week or so. They grow visibly each day, so it is something easy to observe. When they change to chrysalides, you just have to pin them to the butterfly habitat and wait. The most exciting part is seeing them emerge as butterflies! Three of ours emerged on one day, and another the following day. The one chrysalis that didn't stay attached to the side tried to make its way out but didn't make it, so we talked about the life cycle length and how, even as butterflies, they will only live a few weeks.
A classic book to go along with this is
The Caterpillar and the Polliwog. We also have this great
life cycle puzzle, which continues to hold interest for H even though he generally prefers to do 200+ piece puzzles. The layering really adds an element of challenge. F loves it as well.
I would highly recommend
this kit
! It would be great for a birthday gift or as part of a homeschooling curriculum, or just to do for fun.
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| painted lady butterfly |
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| day 1: caterpillars arrive |
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| day 3 |
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| day 5 |
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| day 9 |
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| day 12: before transferring |
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| day 12: transferred |
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day 18: note two have emerged, two remain in this picture
day 20: released next to our strawberry garden |
When we did ours I took pictures but the kids drew journals about them too, every 2 days or so, documenting the growth and changes. They were little, so dictated a sentence to go with each drawing that I wrote for them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we hung our pavilion high (to avoid little fingers shaking it) but I hung it upside down so the clear part was on the bottom and the kids could see better. :-)