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Watch the wonder of nature unfold right before your eyes with the Insect Lore Butterfly Garden Kit with Live Caterpillars. Specially designed for parents, teachers, and curious young minds, this interactive butterfly kit offers an unforgettable hands-on science experience that brings the butterfly life cycle to life in real time. Ideal for at-home learning or classroom STEM activities, this educational kit includes 10 live baby caterpillars, a 12-inch tall reusable pop-up mesh habitat, and everything needed to care for your caterpillars as they transform into beautiful Painted Lady butterflies. From the moment your kit arrives, the journey begins. Kids can immediately observe the early stages of metamorphosis, watching caterpillars eat, grow, and prepare for their transformation. Over the course of about three weeks, the caterpillars form chrysalides, and with patience and care, emerge as vibrant butterflies ready to be released into the world. Along the way, children gain a deeper understanding of life science, responsibility, and the importance of pollinators in our ecosystem. Trusted by families and educators for nearly 50 years, Insect Lore’s butterfly growing kit includes a flower-shaped butterfly feeder, sugar packets, 2 exclusive Chrys-a-lid™ station logs for easy transfer, a feeding dropper, and a helpful caterpillar care guide—all designed to make the experience simple, educational, and fun. The entire kit supports early STEM learning, making it perfect for nature study units, spring science projects, or homeschool enrichment. Please note that caterpillars are sensitive to temperature and should only be ordered when daytime temperatures are between 50°F and 90°F. Caterpillars can only be shipped within the continental U.S. Ready to raise butterflies? Let the learning and discovery begin the moment the box arrives.
Billy
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2020
I've been buying these since my little grand kids went to Daycare. I've even bought them for Daycare's down the street I'm not associated with, plus for relatives kids. I just think it's the best thing going for some spring time education. I was worried getting them during the COVID-19 stuff, and with all that's going on lately, but of the 5 sets I bought all the caterpillars came small and lively.One year I did buy from a company OTHER THAN Insect Lore and I regretted it. The caterpillars came in all different sizes, so the flow to the chrysalis, then to coming out as butterflies was staggered and REALLY a pain to keep up with. Plus, the best cup had 4 survive and one cup none survived. When I tried to explain to the company, they offered NO compensation. After years of doing this for all the kids related or not, I suggest not trying to save a little and stick with Insect Lore. The memories are so much better.It's awesome when they do come out. I let the kids name theirs (like they really can tell, hehe). Then we keep them a day or two, and when it's warm enough, we go outside and I help them press up on the chest to get one on their finger, take it slowly out of the cage, and watch it take off. So fun and cute.I've got a video of one granddaughter who named hers Daisy. The day she let hers go, and it flew off her finger and away, she stood up and started waving while saying "Goodbye Daisy, Goodbye". She sounded both sad and happy. Glad I got it on film because it's so cute and emotional.Any way - Get one :) Get 10 :)
Mary McPherson
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2019
I have bought a lot of educational toys and activities for my 2 granddaughters (ages 5 and 9). This has been the most fun, educational and satisfying by far. For over 3 weeks we have been foster moms to 12 larva, then 12 chrysalides, then 12 beautiful butterflies. Yes, all survived! Today was release day, we were very happy and a little sad. I can't begin to tell you how exciting it was to watch this transformation.Based on the reviews I read I made a couple of changes. I cut circles out of a paper towel the size of the lids and used double sided tape to attach them to the inside of the lids (a lot of reviewers said their chrysalides fell from the lids). I also cut out a circle of cardboard to put in the bottom of the habitat to keep yucky stuff from seeping through the mesh (I used the top of the box they were delivered in). Even if you don't put the paper towels in the lids I would recommend taking the lids off when you first get the larva. I set the lids on top and pushed them down just a little so they didn't get knocked off (there's no way to gently remove the lids when it's time to put the chrysalides in the habitat). The habitat was easy to wash (lots of poopy red stuff in there) with soapy water. It is very sturdy, pretty sure it will last for many more generations of butterflies!When we released our butterflies several landed on the girls to say good bye. What wonderful memories we have!
D.Stel
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2019
I ordered the Deluxe Butterfly Garden w/ 2 cups of caterpillars (just in case a few didn't make it). I set this up for my daughter at home. She loved watching the caterpillars grow.For the first few days they were not moving much, and I was worried they were dead. However I noticed they did seem a little bigger despite hardly moving.Each cup had 6 caterpillars. We have a total of 9 out of 12 that developed into butterflies. One cup all 6 turned into butterflies. The other cup only 4 out of the 6 turned, but one butterfly was unable to move and open its wings so it died. We ended up with 3 out of 6 from that cup.There are two things I did not like about this product. Both are two things the manufacturer cannot control.1) All of the webbing! I had one caterpillar stuck on the bottom of the cup because it could not move due to the webbing. It formed into a chrysalis on the bottom of the container, but it is not going to form into a butterfly. The other butterflies that made it have been out for about 2 days now. This chrysalis has turned black. The webbing also made it difficult to remove the lid to place it into the butterfly habitat. I could hear the webbing ripping from the lid as I pulled it off. I was worried I would lose some of the chrysalises in the process.The first butterfly that emerged (which we were super excited for) was so wrapped up in the webbing it got stuck and was unable to fully open its wings or move around. It died not long after emerging. :(2) All of the red liquid from the butterflies! It got everywhere. the cage got stuck to the table. My table had the liquid all over. I wish the instruction booklet had suggested putting something under the cage if you were going to place it on a table. The butterflies got it on the bottom, all over the sides, and all over my table. It was easy to clean off of the table. I will attempt to clean the cage after we release the butterflies.Overall this was fun. I think I will order some more caterpillars and do this again.
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