Insect Lore

We are big fans of Insect Lore around here!  If you have not visited their site yet, please take a minute and click on over there.  It offers so many really fun resources for the bug loving peeps in your life.  I have given Insect Lore products as gifts for Christmas over and over and the kids are always THRILLED to have these really special opportunities to enjoy a bit of nature in their own homes.  The butterfly kits are so amazing, and I am dying to try the tadpole and ladybug kits too.  

We recently were able to use two really fun things from Insect Lore at our {Green Party in the Park}:

• To go with the "outdoors"/"green" theme we had a "butterfly release". Butterflies are one of my daughter's all-time favorite things, so it was a fun way to celebrate her too. Insect Lore has so many amazing kits (ladybugs, butterflies, tadpoles, etc...) to introduce kids to how bugs grow. We had their butterfly pavillion and 20 live painted lady butterflies that we released at the end of the party. This was certainly a huge highlight for the kids!

Most of the children (anyone who wanted to) were able to hold a butterfly for a while before they flew off into the sunset.

• To do the release, we formed a very large circle and then talked about how butterflies start as caterpillars. I made the connection to Logan by sharing that she grew in my tummy until she was ready to come out.

• Each little buddy got to take home their very own caterpillar in a necklace "locket" from Insect Lore. These are the coolest things! They come all sealed up with the caterpillar inside. There is food in the bottom for the caterpillar to eat and the kids get to watch the very hungry caterpillar eat and grow until finally, the caterpillar will climb to the top of the locket and form her chrysalis. The kids can literally take it with them anywhere they go.  You have to call Insect Lore to plan this one out, but they are really fun favors to send kids home with.  Every child that attended the party has kept us informed of their caterpillar/butterfly's development.

{here you can see some of the party boys climbing with their lockets around their necks}

Once the chrysalis forms, mom can move the chrysalis into the little pop up tent (each family took one of these home) and after a few days, the butterflies emerge from their chrysalis. The kids get to keep the butterflies for a few more days (feeding them orange slices) and then they get to release them. I have seen a few of the kids since the party and they always run up to me and tell me what is happening with their bugs! Insect Lore is wonderful! It has become one of my favorite places to buy birthday and Christmas gifts for kids! Check them out. This was a really fun way to honor nature and let the kids take something home that is educational too.