Each week this month – which is Let’s G.O. (Get Outside) Month – I’m hosting a “Get Outside” giveaway featuring one of our favorite things.
This Week’s Item: Live Butterfly Garden
Why We Love It
Last April, we adopted two caterpillars from a local children’s museum and watched them transform into butterflies over the process of several weeks. Getting to see this magical metamorphosis up close was nothing short of amazing. (You can read all about our experience here).
At the time, we used only the small containers provided with the adoption and makeshift plastic cases after to house our guests.
This year, the big explorer was lucky enough to watch this transformation again – this time using a butterfly garden in his classroom at school. He says there was plenty of room to house all three painted lady caterpillars throughout their entire metamorphosis into butterflies. (This product comes complete with a coupon for the caterpillars and food.)
Sounds sweet to me.
To Enter
Leave a comment sharing one way you encourage your child’s interest in insects, bugs and other tiny critters. Please leave your email address, twitter name or blog url so I have a way to contact you!
The Nitty-Gritty
- This giveaway will run through midnight PST on Saturday, April 16, 2011.
- Sorry, but this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.
- The winner will be chosen using the nifty random number generator at random.org.
- Winner will have 24 hours to reply to my notification; if I don’t hear back after that, I’ll pick another winner.
Good luck!
Note: The item I’ve chosen for this giveaway was not donated or given to me in exchange for this review. I’ve selected it because it’s a product my family enjoys. You can read my disclosure policy for more information.
Congratulations to this week's winner – Sara! Thanks to everyone for sharing such great comments. Yay to all of you for encouraging & supporting a love of critters!
This is so perfectly of the moment for us right now. 3 yo is currently bug crazy and has a vat of 'snail soup' simmering outside. She's mad about butterflies and all the beautiful colors currently flying everywhere.<br />adbw17@yahoo.com
I have no problem encouraging my son on bugs…he loves them! <br /><br />For his 3rd birthday we did a bug theme and went to our local bait shop and got worms. We still have them as pets – almost 6 months later!
We look under rocks and logs in the spring for newts and other tiny lizards and worms. Of course we try to hold them if we can. When we see a beetle or bug I ask them how many colors they can find so that they look for the beautiful side of bugs.<br />Lynda<br />lyndacostello@gmail.com
I don't have kids at home so I am not entering your drawing – but I think it is AWESOME that you are doing this! I saw my first ever Chysalis last Sunday – it was empty but it was an amazing experience. <br />You can see a pic of it here:<br /> <br />http://thesunriseofmylife.blogspot.com/2011/04/chrysalis-with-dew-drops.html
We enjoy nature walks and looking for little nature friends. My kids know we are suppose to be nice to the insects so they just watch them roam around or fly.<br /><br />My son learned about the transformation of a butterfly in preschool. He would love this.<br /><br />nfonseca(at)Mac.com
My kids and I are constantly digging in the garden and trying to find different insects and bugs. My daughter has two bug catchers, and then we try to identify what they are. email: juliemelberg at gmail dot com
I always make it a point to stop and look at bugs and talk about what we see. I have been thinking about getting my daughters one of these, ever since we read the hungry caterpillar she has shown a great interest in the process!<br /><br />alklong at hotmail dot com
OOPS! Forgot email:<br />sarachrobot@hotmail.com
Both my husband and I love bugs and are fascinated so the encouragement comes from our enthusiasm I suppose 🙂 <br />I use this product in my classroom(pre-k)every year! Its awesome! It would be cool to have one for home too. We did the praying mantis pagoda from Insect Lore this year as well. Finding it difficult to feed them in chilly northern Indiana, but otherwise, its neat too! Thanks
I have always wanted to do that kit with my kids. <br /><br />To encourage my kids to like bugs, I always get them bug collecting kits at the dollar store in the spring. Then when we find bugs I do my best to look them over and enjoy exploring what they look like up close. I never scream or run away from a crazy ugly bug. I think my kids have learned that bugs aren't bad through this because
We have tons of "habitats" ready to go when he catches bugs. We look at them for a day or so then let them go back into nature.<br /><br />lov2bye@hotmail.com
Ooh cool! We go for hikes, turn over logs, wade in streams, bringing along bug nets and jars on occasion… did I mention I'm an entomologist? Geeking out over bugs is what I've done my whole life, so it's just natural to pass it along to my kids. 🙂 Mostly I just make a point to stop and observe small things often, and to point out interesting things to the kids.
Lately, for our walks home from his preschool, I have been keeping one of my son's bug collectors in my backpack, because he's always looking for bugs on the walk and wants to take them home before releasing them later…
We just love taking nature walks and exploring. Seeing what kind of creatures we can find is a fun adventure! : ) mamabubblering@yahoo.com
My 3-yr-old daughter was terrified of ladybugs. We gave her an old measuring spoon and a magnifying glass and now if she finds a ladybug inside she'll scoop it into the spoon and look at it with her magnifying glass and then release it outside.
We explore the outdoors often. In fact when we built our daughters play house area we made it exploration friendly – she can be in and explore every corner of her area with no boundaries. We collect bugs, tadpoles, critters, plants and flowers for observation 🙂 <br /><br />I am brand new to your blog and love it – inspiractional! Thank You!!!
I help roll over logs and rocks that are too big for him to handle on his own. 😉 <br /><br />I can't believe we don't have one of these butterfly habitats! G would love to win this one; thanks.