Butterflies in May

Butterflies in May

I took the kids to the "Butterflies in May" class at our local recreation department last Wednesday. I forgot to take pictures so I don't have pics of the caterpillars. But here is a pic of their current state as of this morning. The caterpillars have formed a chrysalis already. FYI, butterflies create a chrysalis while moths create cocoons.

The caterpillars were given in a small container where nutrients were already provided. The kids just basically decorated the shoe
boxes that would house the caterpillar. There was some pre-class preparation that I needed to do. I had to cut a 4x5 hole on top of the shoebox plus a 3x3 flap on the side. I needed to do that for each of the shoeboxes - one per child. I simply used the box cutter to make the holes and the flap. Twas much easier than using scissors, that's for sure! It was just easier to maneuver especially in the smaller box. I was a little worried that one of the shoeboxes I had was smaller than the others (toddler-sized compared to kid-sized boxes) that it would be too cramped for the caterpillar. Then, I was surprised to see how small the caterpillars were. They seemed like just a third of my pinkie. I'm used to the big "higad" back in the Philippines. LOL! If I had known they were all that small, I would have used all my smaller shoe boxes instead of the bigger ones.

Anyway, we've been monitoring the progress of the caterpillars. We're looking forward to see them "hatch"(is that the right word?) It's pretty low-maintenance so we just check on them everyday to see if any are coming out of their chrysalis yet. I hope I remember to take pics once they start to come out. So exciting for the kids and for mama. LOL! This would make a pretty cool science project for the kids once we homeschool, wouldn't it?

I'll post pics here as soon as they transform into butterflies.