Description
Insect Lore’s Live Butterfly Garden gives children the opportunity to learn about the life-cycle of a butterfly by raising them in their own home. Children can watch over a 3-5 week period as the baby caterpillars transform into chrysalides and finally emerge as Painted Lady butterflies.
Children can observe the butterflies for a few days before releasing them into the wild. The butterfly garden comes with a 30cm pop-up mesh habitat, feeding pipette, instructions and a caterpillar voucher, which can be redeemed for dispatch between March and mid-September.
What our testers said
“This is amazing! They’re starting to hatch” – Girl aged 4
“So the butterflies are not butterflies yet?” – Boy aged 5
“Can the caterpillars choose what colours their wings will be?” – Boy aged 5
What our experts think
This kit is great for encouraging children to explore and learn about the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. It was surprising how small the caterpillars were, but it was great to see how quickly they grew as this was noticeable day by day.
The life cycle was short enough to keep the children interested and we liked that the information sheet told us how to handle them and what to look for when they were ready to move onto the next stage (even the adults learned something new!).
Once the butterflies had hatched out of their chrysalis, you could keep them in the net for a while so the children could observe them.
Skills developed
– Encourages responsibility and nurturing
-Prompts discussion about environmental issues and animals’ habitats
-Promotes knowledge of life-cycles and biology
