They were so excited the day our little container with 5 caterpillars arrived in the mail. They came already supplied with food and everything they needed for the next 7-10 days.
We watched them grow and get a lot bigger, then they eventually hung upside down at the top of the lid and formed their cocoons.
Kiara would run over to check on them every few minutes. One minute no cocoon the next there was one...then eventually five.
After all five were in their cocoons we took the little piece of paper from the lid and pinned it inside the habitat. Now we had to wait for them to emerge as butterflies. Every morning the first thing the kids would do was run over to check on them.
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| Our first butterfly to emerge! |
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| butterfly #2 eating an orange for breakfast. |
We watched them for a few days then decided to set them free. Partly because we didn't want them to die and because we were getting a ton of fruit flies in our house because of the fruit in the habitat.
Surprisingly when we took the habitat outside and opened it they did not fly out! The girls were able to reach their hand in and the butterflies climbed right on their fingers and let them hold them for a while. Then they would fly off and land on the grass and we would pick them up again and encourage them to fly until they could fly high enough to get away from the dog.
This is my favorite picture. Tj saw the butterflies landing on the grass and ran and got the butterfly net and ran after them. I LOVE the look of excitement on his face!
Our butterfly project was a great success! We had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I'm thinking next we might get some tadpoles. :-)
1 comment:
That's really really neat!
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