Nature offers a unique opportunity for children of all ages to learn and grow through observation and exploration. This article will highlight encouraging your child to explore butterflies and the valuable scientific skills - along with many others they can develop in the process. Here, we will focus on the Monarch Butterfly specifically, though this butterfly exploration can be tailored to a butterfly easily found in your region if the Monarch is not.
Getting Started: Planting
You may be asking - this is great and all but how do I go about actually having my child observe a Monarch Butterfly? One of the first things this greatly depends on is location. According to the National Wildlife Foundation, Monarch populations in the United States are divided by the Rocky Mountains - East and West. In the Summers you can find Monarch Butterflies in the Northern portions of the United States, even up to Southern Canada, in the Fall the migrate south to California and central Mexico. 1
A great way to involve your child in exploring butterflies is by observing their natural process. A wonderful approach is to plant Milkweed near your home, remembering that it flourishes in sunny locations - which are also more likely to attract butterflies, as they favor warm and sunny settings. You may be wondering why we suggest milkweed specifically - Monarch caterpillars only source of food are the leaves of the mlkweed plant therefore the adult butterflies lay their eggs on the underside of a milkweed leaf. If you are unable to plant milkweed, look for natural areas where they are growing.
Learning Opportunity: If you decide to move forward and plant the acutal milkweed, involve your child in the process!
Talk to your child about the name of the plant and why you are planting it, and the specific location. Regardless of whether your child fully comprehends what you are telling them, they gain so much knowledge from listening to your explanation alone.
Ask your child to help you find a sunny spot in your yard (you can tell them that milkweed does well here and butterflies like the sunshine ).
Encourage your child to help you dig a hole for the milkweed plant (from seed or a larger plant), feeling dirt beneath fingers and a shovel in hand is both a wonderful sensory and motor experience.
Once you plant the seed or plant, let them help you water it, describing that plants need water to grow.
**Make sure you plant Milkweed that is native to your area check out this post by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation for tips.
Hurry Up and Wait
Hurry up and wait is the title of this portion of observation as there is no guarantee that planting milkweed will, in fact attract a butterfly that lays its' eggs or at what part of warm weather periods this will happen.
Learning Opportunity:
Observation: The ability to observe is a skill in science that your child will repeatedly use, and it is one that requires practice. People in general struggle to take the time to pause and observe carefully but when you do you can see the magic of nature taking place.
To encourage your child to voice their observations, speak to them about what you are seeing (even if unrelated to a butterfly) - do you see a bee pollinating the milkweed flower, is the wind moving the plants around, when you show your child how you voice your observations, they will be encouraged to do the same. Naturally depending on the age of your child observations can range from "plant is green" to "I see a butterfly flying around our plant" or simply a baby watching and thinking - regardless, all are important to their development.
Carefully check the underside of leaves, particularly if you have seen a butterfly flying around.
Prediction: If you have seen a Monarch flying around your Milkweed plant, encourage your child to make predictions, again these can vary by age. Younger children may need your assistance in predicting while older children may make their own conclusions. If they are struggling to predict on their own or are new to the process, you can ask leading questions - "Hmm what do you think that butterfly is doing?"
If you are lucky enough to spot the eggs (we were not), then keep observing to see if you can spot a caterpillar - according to the National Wildlife Foundation they are only in their eggs for 3-5 days. (1)
Caterpillar has been spotted!
There is a good chance that you won't spot the caterpillar before it has grown to a good size as they start off teeny tiny but once you do it’s time to really start watching!
Learning Opportunity:
Observation: this one comes up again and again but observing how the caterpillar moves and eats, it’s colors, it’s size etc are all great ways to build these skills.
Knowledge: This is a wonderful way to learn all about this incredible animal, seeing that it can climb, watching it munch on Milkweed and so on will really build the knowledge that Monarch caterpillars need milkweed to grow.
Questioning and making predictions: some children naturally have a thousand questions and others do not but now is the time to encourage them. You may need to help by saying things like “hmm I wonder how the caterpillar stays on the plant,” etc. Remember that not having the answer to the question is okay - it is a great way to show your child that when we don’t have an answer we can do research to find out together.
Respect for living creatures and empathy: children gain empathy and respect for living creatures when they observe them and learn about their importance.
Vocabulary: Milkweed, caterpillar, chrysalis
The below pictures are images from a monarch caterpillar observed on a milkweed plant. The first image shows it munching on the leaves, the second image, three days later has the caterpillar getting ready to make its chrysallis.
We have a chrysalis!
Keep checking on your caterpillar once it has entered the hanging phase and you will soon see a chrysallis. We saw ours the following day!
Learning Opportunities:
Observe observe observe: Keep in mind that your caterpillar will stay in its' chrysalis for quite a while but encourage your children to keep checking on it. They may be amazed how it can withstand a storm, change colors, and slowly but surely develop! As it gets closer to the end, make sure you check regularly!
Predicting: Predict how long the caterpillar will remain in its' chrysalis. What is it doing while in there? Will it emerge in the day or night time?
Our caterpillar was in its' chrysalis for 16 days! The last few days we really observed how the chrysallis became thinner and more translucent.
Butterfly Emerges!
Watching the final stage of a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis is one of the most thrilling moments. While you may not witness its actual emergence, the butterfly will remain close to its chrysalis for a considerable time as its wings toughen and dry.
Learning opportunities:
Observation: Similar to the caterpillar stage, this is a great time to observe your butterfly- particularly if you spot it soon after it has emerged. Take a look and see how it is moving its' body, it is stretching its' wings? Our butterfly spent about 2 hours drying its' wings close to the chrysalis, took flight, and then rested in a new sunny spot close by before flying away all together.
Prediction: How long do you think the butterfly will stay by its' chrysallis? Where will it fly when it does fly away?
Respect for living creatures and empathy: Similar to the caterpillar stage, when children spend so much time observing this amazing creature, they will gaiin respect and care for it. They will also be encouraged to protect it and its' environment to keep seeing butterflies again and again!
One of the most thrilling nature exploration activities we had was observing the butterfly life cycle up close. I highly recommend seizing this wonderful opportunity. Plant or locate some milkweed to begin your own journey!
Source:
Federation, N. W. (n.d.). Monarch Butterfly. Retrieved from National Wildlife Federation: https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Invertebrates/Monarch-Butterfly#:~:text=During%20summer%2C%20western%20monarchs%20live,Pacific%20Northwest%20during%20summer%20months.
Monarch Butterfly Book Recommendations
About Monarchs in General:
Involving Migration:
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