Butterfly Garden: Caterpillars Fast Forward

FLYING FREE!

The butterfly garden was a great hit.   The caterpillars went into their chrysalises and then emerged as beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies.   The kids had so much fun growing them.  We enjoyed them for about three days and then let them go.  I highly recommend it as a great family experiment!  We are still reading through the butterfly book:  The Life Cycles of Butterflies: From Egg to Maturity, a Visual Guide to 23 Common Garden Butterflies

photo: above - They keep getting bigger

          below -  They shed their last skin for their crystallize

The Painted Lady Butterflies started to emerged while we were in Mound, MN visiting my parents but the kids loved coming home to the butterflies!

They loved oranges!

Lucy loved the butterflies - she will flap her arms to show what butterflies do.  "FLY!"

If you love them let them go!  It was quite thrilling to see them fly free!

Try your own Butterfly garden!

Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden

Butterfly Garden: Caterpillars Growing up

INCH BY INCH!

The Caterpillars have grown a lot.  The kids love to stop and look at them.  I do have to watch to make sure they don't do silly things.  One day I caught Wesley breathing into the holes on the top of the cup and he said, "I am giving them more air."  We was concerned they wouldn't have enough air in there.  I explained how air would have no problem going through those air holes and that he was not helping them but could actually hurt them with the germs in his mouth.  He didn't really get it but he stopped.  The kids are excited for the chrysalis stage.  Irina and I are about half way through all the different butterflies found in the United States.  Then we get into Butterfly Habitat Gardening.  I am excited about that chapter, but she wants to read the book from front to back and doesn't want me to jump ahead.  It is going to be fun seeing butterflies now and trying to figure out which one it is.

The Life Cycles of Butterflies: From Egg to Maturity, a Visual Guide to 23 Common Garden ButterfliesInsect Lore Live Butterfly Garden

Butterfly Garden: Caterpillars Arrive!

Great 

Excitement!

The Jones kids were ecstatic when the butterfly caterpillars arrived. We got them out of the box and spent quite a bit of time looking at them.  The caterpillars may have been a little dazed by the bright lights after the darkness of the box, but after a few moments they were all moving around.  All five are  happy and healthy.  We put the caterpillar container on our bookshelf to keep it out of the sun and the kids are enjoying looking at them as they pass by.  I am very happy that I got a caterpillar book to read through - Irina is really enjoying learning about caterpillars and what kind of plants to plant to attract butterflies.  The kit itself is fun but without the book it is a more passive activity at least for now in the waiting stage.  The kids are anxious for them to turn into their chrysalis.  I've learned a lot about butterflies the different kinds and where different types are located around the United States. 

 

We'll keep you posted on their progress.

Butterfly Garden: While we wait...

For her 5th birthday Irina chose to get a Butterfly Garden.

Since I Knew that when the kit from Amazon arrived we would have to send in for the caterpillars from Insect Lore, I decided to also get the book The Life Cycles of Butterflies.  Link to Authors Website here

I am really glad I got this book which is a field guide written with kids in mind.

As I read the book to Irina we are learning a lot about where butterflies lay their eggs, what they do to protect themselves and what different types of butterflies we will be able to find in our area.

Irina has been pouring over the book taking it to bed with her and she has even been carefully saying the names of the butterflies as she learns about them.

Of course what is a girl not to love with butterfly names like Painted Lady, Tiger Swallowtail and so many others.

Needless to say we can't wait for the caterpillars to arrive...