Has anyone else used the Insect Lore Butterfly Garden? I wanted to buy one for a while, and I finally saw it on Amazon for $12 about a month back. (It's $14 now, but still a great price
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000ISC5). It comes with the netted habitat and an informative pamphlet, but you have to spend a few more dollars to get the caterpillars sent to you. I bought them online, and it took about a week to get them sent to me from across the country. They come in a cup with all the food they need until they form chrysalides. Gabriel was instantly excited about the caterpillars. We have read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and he knows that they eat and eat and eat and get bigger and bigger and bigger. It was fascinating to see how much they grew in just a few days. We looked at them often, Gabriel getting more excited every time. After about 10 days, they started hanging upside down and formed their chrysalides. This was, of course, a whole new level of excitement. Gabriel constantly talked about his "chrysalises" and how they would turn into a butterfly for the whole 10 days they were transforming. We came home this evening and saw our first butterfly! We were elated, and Gabriel looked at it and talked to it (and tried to poke at it through the netting
). Now we wait for the other 4 to come out, which will probably happen sometime tonight or tomorrow. You "observe" the butterflies for a few days and then release them outside. It's so cool to see the whole process and hear your kid talk about it. I highly recommend you buy it for your kids (and yourself) to enjoy. It's a great learning experience. The habitat is also reusable, so you just have to spend a few dollars for the caterpillars any time you want to do it again.
Digg
