Kinder Caterpillar Update: The Final Chapter

This has been one heck of an experience as far as I'm concerned. Let's recap the last 2 weeks of this fun project.

Once all of the caterpillars had entered the chrysalis, I carefully pinned them all into the butterfly pavilion. They were in there about 7 days before the first two emerged while I was out of town and had a sub.

 I was aware that there might be a little blood, but I was not prepared for just how much. After the weekend, we had about 8 butterflies and a decent amount of blood. My students were concerned, so I explained it to them in terms of a scab. 

Me: What happens when you pick a scab?

Students: We bleed.

Me: But you're okay, right?

Students: Yeah.

Me: Exactly. The chrysalis was like a big scab. When the butterflies came out, it was like picking that big scab off. There was some blood, but they're okay!

I put a sponge soaked in sugar water down at the bottom of the pavilion for them to drink from. A couple days later, I decided to put an orange in there as well. They liked the orange a lot better!

They lived in the pavilion for a week. I kept it on my desk and the students loved coming over to check on them and watch them.  Once I noticed the butterflies beginning to mate, I knew it was time to set them free. So we decided to go outside yesterday afternoon (we had to make sure it was warm enough) and said goodbye.

I wish I could share more pictures and videos. A few of the butterflies landed on the kids and it was so cute! We had talked about how the butterflies may want to stop and say thanks for taking such good care of them before flying off, so the kids did a great job of being calm and not freaking out.

This was by far one of the best experiences of my teaching career so far. If you've never done something like this, I highly suggest it. I plan to do this or something similar again in the future. My students got so much out of this project. Authentic learning experiences like this one are the things that kids remember when they think back on their education. My students will never remember the creative math lessons I taught, but I think they'll always remember raising a caterpillar and watching it turn into a butterfly. I'm so glad I got to share this experience with these amazing sweeties!