Remember in grade 3 when you learned about the life cycle of a butterfly? I don’t. Well, not the specific details, anyway. There’s not much I actually remember from those early science classes. But I do remember loving them. I loved that there seemed to be an explanation for everything. And the experiments blew my mind – and almost my face off in grade 11 when the beaker exploded and I was in the front row. And then there was the fetal pig dissection. Ya, that was disgusting. But other than that. loved it all.
Jaia got a science kit from her friends for her 4th birthday. And then again the following year. She was in awe. She and Dan carefully worked on every single experiment. Listening to her explain back to me what she’d done and the end results was amazing. I remember how she felt. It reminded me of me.
So I got an idea. Why not up the ante? After a little bit of research, I found it. The Canadian Hone Educators Resources offered a Painted Lady Butterfly Rearing Kit. They send you a few caterpillars and a few weeks, they become butterflies, all right there, in front of your eyes.
Money well spent. The kids were bug-eyed last night when we put the caterpillars on the table in front of them. Of course, patience not being their thing, they hoped they would turn into butterflies right then and there. But no, thankfully we have some time to enjoy the process…and maybe learn a thing or two along the way.
lisa d - the local teach and learn store here offers the same thing. we did it last spring, and pearl had a blast. my highlight, was her adoring her dress up wings and teaching the butterflies to fly while they warmed up in the sunlight. have fun jaia and wes, we may pick up another kit too!