Caterpillars->Butterflies

For Easter, Gram and Papaw got the kids this awesome kit from Insect Lore.

So we mailed off our coupon for the caterpillars and got them in just a couple days in the mail!

It comes with 5 caterpillars (only 4 of ours made it) in a jar with food and everything they need...

 

I put the caterpillars on the ledge and Gav loved checking on them every day as they grew, ate, pooped (his favorite part), and grew some more:

 They all hung in a "J" on the same day within an hour of each other. It's truly amazing how God created these little guys to know what to do:

They made their Chrysalis one by one. We actually got to see one start at the bottom and finish at the top (maybe 10 minutes total). I used to do this in my classroom every year and I never got to see that part!! So exciting!

Henley didn't quite understand like Gavin did, but she still loved checking them out!

We then transferred the paper lining under the cup lid to the butterfly "Pavilion."

Notice the difference in color here (when they first formed their chrysalis)...

 ...to here, right before they hatched (notice how see-through it is--you can see their wings!)

This morning as we were getting ready for church, I looked up to see a butterfly!! We've been waiting patiently for 10 days!

I sadly have no pictures of the butterflies "hatching," but when they crawl out, they hang upside down until their wings are stronger (side note--their wings are very crumpled when they first come out since they've been in a teeny tiny home for so long!)...

The best part about this kit is that for that first hour when they aren't strong enough to fly, you can hold them and they won't fly away!

Henley learned a new word: Butterfly! She loved looking in at them:

We brought them outside with our neighbors to let a couple of them go (after we held them first, of course!)

We had one lonely guy left at the end of the day. I carried this thing around all afternoon so we wouldn't miss him hatching. The 1 time I left to answer Aunt Amanda's phone call, I see my neighbor calling me over, so I run over, tell Amanda to hang on, *think* I hang up on her, yell and yell and yell for Gavin to come watch...only to find out I did not hang up on Amanda and she thought something horrible happened to Gavin! Her response to what the real uproar was about: "You are a freak." Ha! I do love my critters!! :)

We still have 2 that we'll watch tomorrow and then let go. What a fun hands-on Science lesson to teach Gavin and Henley, but even more, what a teachable moment of how amazing our Creator is!