We're Growing Butterflies With Insect Lore!

So, I told you all about how we're going to begin homeschooling in the fall. My son will be in Kindergarten but we want to do learning activities during the summer months as well to get us into the swing of things before we officially begin. One of the ways we're doing this is by using the Butterfly Garden Pavilion from Insect Lore.

 Our kit arrived not too long ago. Inside, we found 2 jars of caterpillars, 5 in each jar, the butterfly pavilion, and special instructions on how to care for our caterpillars, their chrysalises, and the butterflies. Also, there was a great catalog of items available from Insect Lore. Alex wants one of everything, I think. That makes me excited to try different kits as we go through our homeschooling years. 

These tiny caterpillars came with their own food. All the kiddos had to do was handle the jar carefully as they observe their new friends. At the top of the jar is paper for the caterpillars to attach to when they're ready to form their chrysalis. That paper is then removed and pinned to the inside of the pavilion. 

There is a zipper on top of the pavilion to make attaching the paper an easy task. Just open it up, pin the paper to the side of the pavilion, and zip it shut. 

And when we need to add food to the pavilion for the butterflies to eat, I can open the bottom zipper to safely put food in without disturbing the butterflies too much. {Our butterflies haven't arrived yet but I'll be sure to share photos once they do.}

The pavilion neatly collapses to make storing it away easy. This means we can use it year after year!! I'm really happy about this and my kids are loving the experience so I know they'll look forward to doing it again.

Here is a look at the instructions that come with the caterpillars. I like the pictures included as it helps the little ones understand not to put them in the sunlight and what the caterpillars will look like when they're ready to form their chrysalis. There are also some fun facts about Painted Lady butterflies in the booklet. Alex is still in awe at the fact that they have 10,000 eyes. {Me too!}

Our caterpillars grew and grew! Then, they began to form chrysalises and I was able to transfer them to the pavilion.

I was waiting on the caterpillars in the second jar to finish up. Surprisingly, we still have one caterpillar that is not in a chrysalis yet. I call him a late bloomer or "slow to grow" while Alex calls him Wilbur since it's a "runt". lol

We have had so much fun so far with watching our caterpillars grow and make their chrysalis. It was exciting every single time one caterpillar began to transition into the next stage. As I said earlier, I'll be sure to share photos once the butterflies emerge. 

Whether you're homeschooling or not, this is just too miraculous to miss. I give Insect Lore and their Butterfly Garden Pavilion two thumbs up! The experience is amazing and we're having a great time learning about the life cycle of a butterfly. 

Buy It! You can purchase your own Butterfly School Kit with Live Caterpillars for $52.99. There are other kits available as well that are not as large or as costly.

**Thanks to Insect Lore who supplied the items to facilitate this review. I wasn't compensated in any way for this post. In this post I share my thoughts and opinions of the items mentioned. Others may have a different experience or opinion.**