One of the best things about my new job is thinking up fun activities for my residents to be a part of. One of our most recent was a butterfly exhibit so the residents could watch the change that occurs for a butterfly to turn into... well a butterfly.
We bought a kit from Insect Lore that came with 4 giant caterpillars... EWWWW!
The caterpillars came to us in a somewhat frozen state... but once they warmed up they started moving all around and eating whatever food was in the jar with them.
After three days they climbed up to the top of their jar, attached themselves to it, and started making their cocoons.
They then literally "hung" around for the next 10 days or so... while we patiently waited for them to hatch out into the world!
And then it happened... all 4 cocoons turned a very dark color and soon beautiful butterflies were making their way out into the world! It was super exciting for myself and the residents.
The butterflies lived with us for about 7 days and the residents watched them eat watermelon and flutter around.
Unfortunately, one of our butterflies died during its short stay with us. We had a burial for the sweet fella.
Finally it was time for the release. All our residents made their way outside on a very hot and muggy day to send them off in style! It was a great moment to watch our three sweet butterflies make their way into the world!
I would definitely recommend doing this with any age group. I was very intrigued with this activity!
I would definitely recommend doing this with any age group. I was very intrigued with this activity!
No comments:
Post a Comment