Very Hungry Caterpillars!

If you've known me for a while, you probably know very well that I'm not really a "creepy - crawly" type of person.  Beetles, flies, and spiders - oh my! But, I feel a lot of times I put this aside to do cool things with my kids and to make sure NOT to instill fear.  And the project we started today really isn't gross - it involves caterpillars - and who doesn't love cute little caterpillars???  


I scored the kits at the end of summer last year at WalMart for only $5.00!  I've seen them being sold at school supply stores for $35+, so I knew I got a great deal!  We've just been waiting for this summer to begin to watch our caterpillars grow into butterflies!  

Well, today was the day to start the project, because our caterpillars came in the mail!  Yep, that's right, they showed up in our mailbox today.  The kit includes the butterfly observation garden and a postcard for you to order your live caterpillars.  I thought that we'd get the caterpillars and move them into the included garden right away, but that's  not true.  We keep them in their cups, that already include food, until they turn into chrysalides.  We then have to very carefully move the chrysalides from the cup and pin them to the top of the garden and then simply wait until they turn into beautiful butterflies.  I'm excited to teach the girls different science terms.  For example, today I introduced the words "observe" and "observation".  And, we'll obviously talk about the different stages of caterpillars turning into butterflies.  I've never been the "science" person - but this is just too cool not to like! 

Kylee and her caterpillars!

Jennah and her caterpillars!

Jennah making observations.

Each day we'll be observing our caterpillars and taking notes on their changes.  I'm having the kids draw what they see every other day and we'll be keeping a journal.  This should be a fun activity.  They already go check on their little creepy crawly buddies every so often to report what they are doing.  

There will definitely be more to come - so stay tuned!