Watching butterflies with Insect Lore

Posted on by CatsKidsChaos

Butterflies are fascinating and one of the very many insects that we have studied and observed as part of homeschool learning and nature life that we enjoy. We see a variety in our garden and are fortunate to live in an area where there are a number of different types. We are aware that butterflies do need to be protected and encouraged in these changing climate times though, so we try to grow butterfly-friendly flowers and plants in our garden and not to use pesticides that might harm them. 

My children love learning about nature and are very curious and interested in all sorts of things animal and plant-related. It’s something I encourage and the reason why we have pets, some unusual, and some more normal. 

butterflies

We love our butterfly hatching kid watching some caterpillars grow, pupate and hatch, and then release them. I thought that they (and me) would enjoy the whole process and it was fascinating and educational too.

We had a special kit from Insect Lore and we set it up, watched the caterpillars get fat, then start to pupate or turn into a chrysalis then slowly hatch into beautiful butterflies, Painted Ladies to be exact. We had five caterpillars and it was amazing to watch them appear.

We released them into our garden, and they fluttered about for a little bit then flew away. We are waiting for our next batch of caterpillars to arrive so we can start all over again.

The kits are brilliant and have everything you and the caterpillars need to grow and we love butterflies. You could use this as a learning resource, just for fun, or more importantly to improve the local butterfly population where you live. 

We are delighted to say we have a kit and voucher to giveaway to one lucky winner on the blog. All you have to do is comment below and tell us what your favourite British butterfly is and enter by clicking on the link below. One winner will be chosen on the 30th of June and contacted to organise receipt of their prize. Please see the terms and conditions in the link and our GDPR policy for how we store and manage data. 

Insect Lore Butterfly kit RRP £20

Good luck. Butterflies are amazing, we think everyone should be able to enjoy them. 

What’s your favourite butterfly?

Posted in Family Life and Parenting, Pet's Corner and tagged fun with nature, grow your own butterflies, Insect Lore, Learning fun.

78 Comments

  2. Tadpoles were a favourite, the problem was the frogs would sometimes escape and get lost in the house.

  3. A cute chick. They had some at my son’s nursery and the kids loved watching them hatch and then holding them

  10. When I worked in environmental education, before moving to France, I used to buy loads of supplies from Insect Lore and I know a lot of schools loved their butterfly garden. A great giveaway and I hope some-one gets a lot of fun from it. #AnimalTales

  26. Controversial I know but I love cabbage whites! They cause havoc in my veg patch but they look so beautiful fluttering around like white petals or snowflakes.

  30. Love this, we did one years ago and it was fascinating to watch, Im sure my boys would absolutely love it!

  38. We love all the white butterflies in our house! We get a lot in our garden, despite not having much greenery. Our girls love watching them <3

  44. Holly Blue. I’ve got many plants for butterflies this year, can’t wait to see more of them.

  49. A controversial choice but I love cabbage whites. They play havoc in my veg patch but they look like floating petals or fluttering snow.

  50. The Red Admiral, as kids, me and my brother used to hunt butterflies and identify them with a pocket book then release them. We always wanted to catch a red admiral but never found one.

  51. The Red Admiral, as kids, me and my brother used to hunt butterflies and identify them with a pocket book then release them. We always wanted to catch a red admThe Red Admiral, as kids, me and my brother used to hunt butterflies and identify them with a pocket book then release them. We always wanted to catch a red admiral but never found one.ral but never found one.

  58. They’re pretty common, but I always like seeing the small whites – it makes it really feel like spring has come!! 🙂

  61. My favourite British butterfly is the common blue butterfly! Such stunning colours when it flies

Comments are closed.