Spring Science Exploration - Caterpillars to Butterflies

Julie over at Creekside Learning recently posted this fun spring/summer activity that will have your little scientists learning about the life cycle of a butterfly, making observations, and playing with caterpillars!

Caterpillar Observation Center

Many toy stores and online teacher supply stores sell kits for raising butterflies. This can be such a neat experience for your kiddos - literally being able to observe all the changes a butterfly goes through during its transformation. We love Julie's idea for setting up a caterpillar observation center! She provided her kiddos with clip boards, a pen, and paper for recording observations, as well as various tools for helping her daughters collect information - a magnifying glass, a ruler, and even a set of cards displaying the scientific method to facilitate independent exploration and learning!

Links of Interest

• Butterfly Garden - Everything you need for raising your own butterflies! The kid includes an 11-1/4 inch habitat, mail-in coupon for the butterfly culture (yields 5 caterpillars), butterfly feeding kit, and instructions for care.
• Butterfly Pavilion - Everything you need for raising your own butterflies! The kit includes 2-foot tall mesh butterfly pavilion/habitat and a mail in coupon for two cups containing 6 to 10 Painted Lady butterfly larvae with special food and complete instructions.
• Butterfly Replacement Certificate - If you've done this exploration before and already have a butterfly habitat, simply redeem this coupon for a 'refill' of 5 Painted Lady butterfly larvae. [You could also purchase this in addition to your butterfly pavilion if you want to raise more butterflies at a time!]