Butterfly Kit

The curriculum we used for pre-school this last year suggested using a butterfly kit to better teach/learn the process of metamorphosis. So, when it was warm enough, we ordered one. We got a container of five caterpillars that started out tiny but quickly grew much larger. We took a picture each day to record their progress.

After they had all wrapped themselves up in cocoons, we placed the lid inside the larger "butterfly garden" that came with our kit. (One of the caterpillars fell as it tried to form its cocoon, so it was not hanging from the lid like the other four.) Then we waited for them to emerge as butterflies.

Austin enjoyed watching the whole process and recorded it all as we went. I actually thought it was fun too. As a kid, I tried to keep caterpillars to watch them change to butterflies several times, but my caterpillars always died before they even made cocoons.

We enjoyed observing the butterflies for a few days before releasing them.