If you’ve been following me on snap chat, you know that I’ve been keeping you up to date about our caterpillar/butterfly project. As the weather was just starting to warm up, I ordered a butterfly kit, that included live caterpillars for us to witness their circle of life. On a daily basis, Ryder, Siella, and Gemma studied how they moved around the jar that was their temporary home to track their progress. Even Jason and I became mesmerized by the entire process. It was pretty fascinating to watch even though this was our second year with the kits.
In true form, similar to the events in The Very Hungry Caterpillar book, our five little critters ate and ate for an entire week, before climbing to the top of the jar, where they settled in and turned into chrysalis, or as Gemma called them DRAGONS!
I’m sure you are all familiar with the process, but once they were fully formed into “dragons”, we moved them into our net habitat. That part was a little gross with all the little webs hanging around, but Ryder had no problem with the transition, as he hung the paper they were attached to inside their new mesh home. After waiting patiently for another 7-9 days, on the morning that Siella and I were leaving for our Florida trip, we noticed one had hatched.
By the time we returned from our 2 day trip, all five were transformed into beautiful monarch butterflies. In our absence, Jason fed them sugar water and flowers, and took care of them. The following day, it was time to set them free.
Each one of the kids had a chance to hold their little critters, before they flew away past the trees and into the sky. It was really the sweetest and so heartwarming! Oh wait and their names: Cherry, Brownie, Flutter Shine, Wingy, and Mona for Monarch.
This project was so much fun, and now every time we see a butterfly fluttering past us, the kids think it’s one of theirs! Happy Earth Day Friends! xx
4 thoughts on “Butterfly Release”
We have yet to do this with the boys and now I really want to! What a cool experience.
My boys LOVE the Butterfly kits. Every time they see a butterfly they say it is one of theirs.
Wait a minute, why have a never done this before!?!?
Oh how fun! We’ve never done this, and this would be a great homeschool project for the spring. Thanks for the inspiration!