Insect Lore Raise and Release Butterfly Garden Kit – Caterpillar Habitat with...

I went back and forth on whether to give this 5 stars or not. I have used an Insect Lore Butterly pavilion for over 20 years and needed another to share with students in a classroom. I purchased this item here on Amazon on 12/10/2004. I used the listing from my order history to order a new one. However, I didn't carefully read the current listing. The original is 2' tall by 14" wide. This one is 12" tall by 10" wide. Very big difference!! You can go to Insect Lore and purchase the same one I have for $14.95 - with shipping and tax it comes to $28. (I know not everyone wants a large one, and taller means tippier if you have small children.) The habitat is an excellent design, sturdy, well made and just the right size to put on a counter or coffee table where everyone can watch them grow. The plastic feeder that comes with this kit is cute, but it's very tiny. The journal booklet is nice, but Insect Lore ought to make it available as a free download - or maybe for $1 - for those who want to print their own. They're charging $3.99 each on their site, supposedly marked down from $5. With all of that said, I've been growing butterflies with children for over 20 years. I've done this with my own children, at schools, home school co-ops, in our neighborhood and at church. (I can highly recommend Clearwater Butterfly for purchasing caterpillars.) I can't say enough about what a wonderful experience this is, and it's a lot easier than growing chicks - haha - take it from me! Praying mantises are also great and fascinating. Ants and ladybugs too - just do that in your garden/yard - not in the house! Try them all and teach your children and your friends' children to love insects and God's extraordinary creation. There is nothing like the touch of a butterfly on your hand and then watching it fly away, especially for a child. This is one of the best grandparent, aunt or uncle gifts - not to be left for the parents to-do list, though! Make it a special thing you do with them and make some memories.

The Live Butterfly Garden by Insect Lore is a fun, hands- on educational experience that is certain to appeal to even the most stubborn, disinterested child. With the Live Butterfly Garden, children get to observe the process of metamorphosis, right before their eyes. Starting with caterpillars, children watch the little critters eat food, create a cocoon, and then transform into fully grown adult butterflies. The butterflies can then be observed in their habitat for a while before setting free. This butterfly garden is great for dozens of reasons, the most obvious of which is the educational value. Reading about insects and metamorphosis is one thing, but seeing the process live is another thing entirely. Kids get to learn how caterpillars/butterflies live, eat, and thrive; how to care for them; etc. They get to observe the caterpillars and butterflies at play and watch the butterflies eat their food, which is provided in the package. The caterpillars that come with the Live Butterfly Garden are painted ladies, which are not very common and will not be recognized by most children. However, most kids won't care- the fun of watching these small caterpillars transform into butterflies will have many kids gazing in awe, and prompt them to ask many questions. This educational toy is a huge hit and my kids loved it, but there were a few small issues. One was waiting for the caterpillars to arrive in the mail. To get the caterpillars, you have to mail in an included certificate, along with a check, and then wait. It seems like an eternity, especially from the perspective of young children, and it took longer than expected. Anther problem was parting with the butterflies. Once you have the caterpillars and they have transformed into adult butterflies, the next problem will be setting them free. Kids will grow attached to their small, winged friends and will not want to let them go. Another minor issue is with the transferring of the caterpillars from their small container- the one you receive in the mail- into the actual habitat. The container that the caterpillars arrive in has a paper area at the top, where the caterpillars will hang as they spin their cocoons. This paper section is fairly easy to remove, but the problem is that the cocoons are very delicately attached, and that means that some will fall off when the transfer is made. You will need to pin this piece of paper to the inside of the butterfly garden, but the kit doesn't include any pins. Safety pins or straight pins work, and it would have been nice if these were included in the kit. Still, when all factors are considered, the Live Butterfly Garden is worth the purchase and young children will enjoy the educational experience. Sure, it could be improved a little bit by making a few minor changes, but this is still a very good toy and considering my kid's fascination with the process, along with the educational value, it earns an easy recommendation.

This product is great for class use or just experimenting, note: caterpillar vouchers and chrys-a-lid come separately. When caterpillar arrive and are probably inactive don’t think they’re dead, just give them two days that’s how mine started to move, and please don’t make my mistake and it’ll just make them take longer don’t shake, tap or throw the cup

This butterfly garden kit provides a fun, hands-on way for children to learn about the butterfly life cycle. Watching the caterpillars grow, form chrysalides, and eventually become butterflies keeps kids interested and excited throughout the process. The habitat is easy to observe and works well for home learning, classrooms, or homeschool activities. Releasing the butterflies at the end makes the experience especially memorable.

The idea is great, and product is good. The price seems a bit high for what you receive because you have to pay $10.95 (flat rate) for the shipping of the caterpillars. I understand that it says separate shipping and handling is required on the box and description, but it doesn’t list how much it is. I was a little surprised to find the cost. I understand it’s live insects, but maybe the price of the product should be lower than to compensate for that shipping price. Although educational and fun, to me, it seems that $40 to raise five butterflies is a little on the high side.

I bought this for my 5 year old. Along the way he had lots of fun and he learnt a whole lot about the butterfly lifecycle. Though the lot doesn’t come with Caterpillars, they give you a coupon to order it. The Insect Lore Butterfly Garden is a great way for kids to learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. The kit comes with everything you need, including a habitat, food, and caterpillars. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and kids will love watching the caterpillars grow and change into butterflies. One of the best things about the Insect Lore Butterfly Garden is that it's a hands-on experience. Kids get to feed the caterpillars, water them, and watch them grow. They also get to learn about the different stages of metamorphosis. This is a great way for kids to learn about nature and science. The Insect Lore Butterfly Garden is also a great way to get kids interested in gardening. The caterpillars need milkweed leaves to eat, so kids will need to plant milkweed in their garden. This is a great way for kids to learn about gardening and the importance of pollinators. Overall, the Insect Lore Butterfly Garden is a great educational toy for kids. It's fun, educational, and a great way to get kids interested in nature. Here are some pros and cons of the Insect Lore Butterfly Garden: Pros: - Fun and educational - Easy to use - Comes with everything you need - Kids get to see the butterfly life cycle up close - Encourages kids to learn about nature and gardening Cons: - Can be a bit messy - Caterpillars can be fragile - Shipping can be expensive Overall, the Insect Lore Butterfly Garden is a great educational toy for kids. It's fun, educational, and a great way to get kids interested in nature.

This kit was incredibly fun and educational. We bought 2 sets of butterflies, and every single one hatched successfully! Unfortunately, we were away when they emerged, and because the air was quite dry, two of them ended up with deformed wings. I learned that this happens if they don't have enough space to spread their wings or if there isn't enough humidity. Since we live in a dry environment, we plan to place a humidifier near it next time. You could also mist it with a spray bottle, but a humidifier seems best for dry areas.

Amazing! My 6yr old little girl was thrilled to have each of the butterflies on her finger or hand! Her smiles said it all!!! Side note: We received 10 caterpillars. 9 went to the cocoon stage. One fell down and didn't make it. Not certain what happened to one. We had 8 beautiful butterflies! With live specimen, I never expected a 100% return. Very pleased here! Thank you!

I purchased this item with trepidation after reading the reviews that the code would not work in the UK and that caterpillars could not be redeemed with a USA code if you were sent the wrong box. My daughter saved her pocket money for this after doing it at school, so we went ahead and purchased it. It arrived this morning. The leaflet inside has a special code that you enter either by post (with £2.99 to cover the shipping of the caterpillar larvae) or you can also enter it online and pay via paypal, which I did. It was VERY quick and easy, I can only assume that some people have been very unfortunate and have received USA stock by mistake, or that the newer stock is all UK butterfly garden boxes. Anyway, I have paid the fee and eagerly await the caterpillars being despatched. You can only pick from a limited list of delivery dates so be prepared to wait at least a week or more for your caterpillars to arrive. ALSO - if you want to do this, eggs are ONLY AVAILABLE in the spring and summer months so be sure you order this item at the right time otherwise it will be useless until the next butterfly season! The box only contains the butterfly net/house, a feeding pipette, and instruction booklet, as well as your unique code to redeem the caterpillars. THIS IS MADE ABUNDANTLY CLEAR! I cannot understand the bad reviews from those intellectually challenged people who seem to think LIVE animals can be kept indefinitely on a shelf until they are sold. Caterpillars life cycle takes about 5 weeks so they would be dead and gone before the kits were sold! Of course they charge a handling fee to get you fresh larvae sent out. If people cant comprehend this basic fact, maybe they don't have the requisite intelligence to be explaining life cycles to a child. Don't be disappointed to find NO LIVE INSECTS in your kit! Sheeeesh! (eye roll).... I will update this reviews when the larvae arrive! 27/07/13 - caterpillars arrived today. They are about 1cm long, black and hairy, and are in a small clear plastic cup with a lid and a cardboard sleeve that can be rotated around the cup to view the caterpillars. Already there are some silk like threads being spun at the bottom of the cup. Four of the caterpillars are very active and can clearly be seen crawling about and eating the thick jelly stuff at the bottom of the cup. The fifth caterpillar is alive but quite inactive and has not moved much. Some have even ventured to the underside of the cup lid. 31/07/13 - all five caterpillars are still alive, though the slow/inert one is still lying at the bottom of the cup not having moved much. They have more than trebled in size since they arrived, the largest one is now about 2.5 - 3cm long. The inside of the cup looks a bit gross now with all the caterpillar waste product (frass) and shed skins. since last night alone they are noticeably fatter; it's amazing just how fast they grow, there can be a marked difference between day and night. In this warmer weather the process is, according to the booklet, much faster. I'm expecting the chrysalis's to start forming over the next few days. At this point I'm hoping for 5 successful butterflies! 02/08/13 - 4 of the caterpillars are now hanging from the lid of the cup, one seems to be a bit more ahead of the others as it has already formed somewhat of a thick cocoon over itself, the others just look like they are hanging there. The fifth caterpillar is making its way to the top of the cup. I hope they all form cocoons at the same time as I don't know what to do if some have not and some have, as the instructions say you should not open the lid until all are hanging from the top (you can introduce bacteria etc into their environment otherwise). Exciting! 05/08/13 - All five caterpillars made it into the cocoon stage, but one was hanging not from the lid but from another cocoon. We opened the lid as per instructions and cleaned away the silk strands and debris (this apparently can cause the butterflies to become entangled and have deformed wings if you don't do this). The cocoon that was hanging from another cocoon, we have detached and laid on a paper towel at the bottom of the enclosure. The instructions say this is okay and it should still hatch out. We are now to wait for the cocoons to turn a very dark colour, and the butterflies are suppose to hatch the same day! This stage was quite yucky if I'm honest and may gross out a sensitive child, as there were 'bits' of old caterpillar skin and what looks like blood (its just 'meconium' according the booklet!). We now wait expectantly for our butterflies! It is interesting to note that the cocoons were shaking quite violently on their own as we were doing this, apparently this is a defence mechanism! Very strange to see. 12/08/13 - First butterfly hatched out yesterday morning. We missed the actual event but it was sitting at the bottom of the enclosure. Have put fresh cut oranges and peaches in the net, as well as some fresh flowers sprayed with 'nectar' (sugar water) as per instructions. The second butterfly hatched this afternoon, and a third looks like it is about to emerge. We have taken lots of pictures. Two down, three to go! 13/08/13 - Two hatched out yesterday afternoon after writing my update. We actually caught the second one on video emerging from its cocoon - you have to be fast because once it starts, it's out in about 5 seconds, it is not the slow process you might imagine! We were very lucky to catch it. A fair amount of red 'blood' drips from their back ends once emerged, so put your habitat on some newspaper. This morning we released all four butterflies as the fifth one was not hatched yet. We got some lovely pictures - they are happy to sit on your fingers etc as you place them on the plants. My daughter was a bit teary for a while but after explaining that her new friends needed to be free to see the world etc and that they would come back and visit her if they could, she felt a bit better. The fifth butterfly hatched in the last two hours, so he will be released this afternoon, as I feel they should not be kept in the net any longer then necessary. In summary this has been an amazing experience for both adult and child. The whole process from receiving larvae to releasing the butterflies took 17 days. I highly recommend this item, we are already thinking about doing it again next summer!

veio sem as larvas. e não consigo devolver, pois está dando erro no site e app! não comprem

Purchased for my granddaughter. She loves it. It’s a great learning tool. Certainly recommend it.

This pack came with a voucher to use to breed butterflies. The website is in Czech Republic and the voucher will not work as I am in Ireland.

Ich habe mit das Set geholt, da ich selbst einfach mal neugierig bin, wie so ein Lebenszyklus eines Schmetterlings abläuft. Kleiner Wermutstropfen: man hat die Raupen nicht mit bei, sondern muss mit einem in der Verpackung befindlichen Gutschein die Raupen in England bestellen und dafür nochmal Porto zahlen. Achtung: Für die Zahlung muß ein Paypalkonto oder eine Kreditkarte vorhanden sein! Bei der Bestellung der Raupen gibt man dann den Tag an, an dem sie verschickt(!) werden sollen. Der Versand dauert ca. 5-7 Tagen. Sind die Raupen dann da, hat man ca 7-14 Tagen, bis sie sich verpuppen und man sie mit Hilfe der kleinen Pappaufsteller in das - in der Grundpackung vorhandene - Habitat umziehen läßt. Eine Erklärung für die gesammte Zeit ist in mehreren Sprachen vorhanden. Und man erhäkt zwischendurch auch einige Mails mit Hinweisen in deutscher Sprache. Ich fand das Leben der Raupen (sogar Streitigkeiten untereinander, sowie regelmäßiges Teilhäuten) sehr spannend und habe nun seit einer guten Woche die Puppen im Habitat. Nun warte ich begierig jeden Tag drauf, das ein Schmetterling schlüpft. Damit die kleinen gleich am Anfang zu fressen haben und nicht ein paar Stunden hungern müssen (was ihnen nicht gut tut!) habe ich nun auch kleine Blumen im Habitat stehn (ausgesucht nach intensiven Recherchen im Internet was diese Raupenart für Blüten braucht). Bitte denkt dran die Schmetterlinge nicht zu lange im Habitat zu belassen sondern sie zeitig in die Natur zu entlassen. Das Habitat ist mehrfach verwendtbar, die Becher, in denen die Raupen geliefert werden und in denen sie wachsen würd ich eher nicht wieder verwenden, da in ihm die Nahrungsreste sowie Kot liegt. Raupen kann man jederzeit über die Website des Herstellers nachbeziehen. Raupen werden aber NUR während einer bestimmten Zeit verschickt, in denen weder der Transport noch die anschließende Umgebung für die Schmetterlinge zu kalt ist! Es ist daher möglich, dass der Gtuschein z.B. im Dezember nicht eingelöst werden kann. Dann einfach im April erneut versuchen. Der Support des Herstellers reagiert nur in englischer Sprache! Wer also Fragen hat, sollte daher Englisch können. Die Anfrage in Deutsch ist kein Problem nur halt die Antwort kommt in Englisch.