Today we released our Painted Lady butterflies!
Edging toward freedom
Landing on its first shrub!
John had never been this close to a live butterfly before.
All five of our butterflies survived, but note the one above with crumpled wings. He is the one who became entangled in the silk upon his emergence from the cocoon. I thought he was dead as he struggled wildly, then stayed still for about 24 hours. Somehow he must have freed himself later! He crawls around the habitat and cannot fly, so we decided to keep him as a pet for the remainder of his two-week lifespan and feed him nectar, so he doesn't become instant food for birds. 
TridentineWife: No, it wasn't too much work! In fact, we have a ladybugs kit on hand and we're going to do that next.
ReplyDeleteLadybug kits? Butterflies? Sounds like such fun! Do you think Mary got a lot out of it, or is it primarly an older child activity? Matthew loves bugs and I wonder if he would be interested in something like this at his current age (23 mos). Also, where did you order them from?
ReplyDeleteMeghan: I think waiting till older is better. Even with John at four, I had to do almost everything and he didn't want to sit still to learn any factoids about the butterflies. Yes, Mary enjoyed it, but I wouldn't have bothered if I had only a two-year-old.
ReplyDeleteI know my friend Sarah W. enjoyed getting her 3-year-old an ant farm.
I think what Matthew would enjoy more at almost two is just getting to visit and play with bugs in the back yard, picking up worms in the dirt and black ants and such. My kids love that and I just let them and wash their hands later.