Real Live Caterpillar Life Cycle

A few weeks ago at our homeschool group park day, a good friend of ours had found some monarch caterpillars along the river trail near the park we were at. They had broken off some milkweed and brought them to the park, planning to take them home with them when they went. 

Adelia saw them, and was fascinated. And she desperately wanted a caterpillar of her own. So when it was time to go, we followed our friends back along the river tail, and they showed us how to find caterpillars on the milkweed that grows there. 

We came home with two caterpillars and a bouquet of milkweed, which we placed in a cup of water inside our butterfly habitat, and the magic began. 

Caterpillars are SO fun to watch! I found myself plenty of times sitting on the stools around our island after I'd put the kids to bed, just watching the caterpillars much.They are pretty active, and move around along the leaves. And they grow really quickly. I was surprised to see a noticeable difference in size every morning when we checked on them.

We also got to go back to the river trail a few times to gather more milkweed, when what we had in our habitat got wilted.

Ivan's caterpillar, Zigzag, was the bigger of the two, and it cocooned first. Also really cool to watch. He hung upside down in hook shape for awhile, I was keeping an eye on him while I made dinner. I saw him hanging there. Turned around to do something, and the next time I turned around he was cocooned. I couldn't believe it!

 He stayed in his cocoon for a little over a week. We went to St. George this weekend, and right when we got home, the kids went to check on their caterpillar. I hadn't even gone in the house yet, and they came out shouting, "Come and see! Come and see!" The butterfly was coming out of his cocoon. His wings were still wet and folded.

We watched him for a little while, and then decided to move him outside where it was sunny. Ivan put him on the branch of our peach tree and we all sat in the grass and watched and watched.

And then he was all unfolded. I was amazed how big he was. And so beautiful. What a cool process. Nature is so freakin' amazing! I'm so glad we had this opportunity. I'm glad Adelia was insistent, and pushy about finding a caterpillar of her own. And I'm thankful we have great friends that are willing to share their knowledge and special places with us. I would love to make this a yearly tradition at our house. I don't think it would ever get old.

A side-note to our really cool caterpillar life cycle experience... It finally motivated me to take the plunge and have the kids begin their Nature Journals. I've been wanting to for awhile, but haven't been really sure exactly how I wanted to have them go about it. So, I've been talking to friends who use nature journaling in their homeschool. I've taken a little here and a little there, and am attempting to put it together in a way that works for our family. The caterpillars seemed like the optimal starting place, because everyone is so pumped about them. :) Our first entries went pretty well, if I do say so myself. Let's hope we keep it up and that it's an experience we all enjoy.

Adelia's butterfly life cycle. I love that her drawings reflect her personality so well. They are so different from the early drawings the boys did.  

Ivan's first journal entry. I love that he put holes in the leaves to show where the caterpillar had eaten. And I love that he noticed that the caterpillar had stopped eating. 

Ivan's second journal entry, because he wanted to document the cocoon phase. 

Lincoln's first journal entry. I love that you can hear his voice coming through in his writing. I also love how independent he's gotten in his ability to write.