It’s butterfly time! We’ve had a Spring tradition in our house for 3 or 4 years – raising moths and butterflies. It started when my son’s preschool teacher handed out silkworms. Having raised them for 17 years, she had an abundant supply and was happy to send the children home with a few each year to raise themselves. Silkworms eat Mulberry leaves and the old and healthy trees on campus were handy for stocking up on food for our fat and squishy friends.

Once he left preschool though, things got a bit difficult. We still received the silkworms but without the thrice weekly trek to preschool finding mulberry leaves got a bit more difficult. In our neck of the woods they just aren’t that common.

So last year, we switched when he received an Insect Lore Butterfly Pavilion for his birthday. This easy to use set comes complete with a net house for growing butterflies and a mail away form for the larvae.

The larvae, once they arrive in the mail, are contained in a small plastic jar and eat themselves silly for a few weeks, then proceed to build their chrysalises on a paper sheet under the lid. Then  it’s a simple matter to transfer them to the net pavilion where we watch them hatch into butterflies.

It’s a great learning experience and a chance to watch nature up close!