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Butterfly Garden
Summer is a great time for children to explore and observe nature. The life cycle of a butterfly is an amazing thing to watch and is easily accessible through Insect Lore’s Live Butterfly Garden Kit.
The Butterfly Garden Kit includes five larvae of the painted lady butterfly, a mesh butterfly habitat and directions for raising the butterflies. The kit is recommended for children ages 4 and up. However, I ordered the kit for my 3 year old and she loved the experience.
The butterfly kit can be ordered online from www.insectlore.com for $19.99. When the kit arrives, be prepared to open it quickly as there are live larvae enclosed. The larvae come in a plastic container with special food on the bottom. Over the course of three weeks, the larvae change and grow daily into caterpillars. It is amazing how the caterpillars almost seem to double in size daily.
Once the caterpillars have become chrysalides, they can be safely transferred into the mesh habitat. A few days later they finally emerge as Painted Lady butterflies. They are beautiful and fascinating to watch in the habitat and so close that it is easy to identify all of the body parts of a butterfly. Watching the metamorphosis of the Painted Lady butterfly is a wonderful educational experience and will provide hours of entertainment for any child.
