Vera has recently started asking us ‘[...] come from where’ questions.
Egg come from where?
Chicken come from where?
Rice…vegetables…and yes, even baby. (To which I answered ‘mummy’s stomach’.)
Anyway…
A friend of mine posted this doodle of a caterpillar-turning-into-butterfly on Facebook. Her daughter drew this after an experience with rearing their own butterfly. Methinks it’s a pretty cool doodle, and it got me really keen to try it out ourselves…just so that Vera could finally see for herself where butterflies come from.
I found out from her that we could buy these ‘kits’ - basically a plastic disposable container with two caterpillars, a netted cover for ventilation, and some lime leaves as feed - from Oh farm located at Sembawang. As the place is like the wook-wook compared to where we are, I was mighty thankful when good ol’ godma volunteered to hop over to pick up the kits for us. (Thanks godma!)
Here is the kit, complete with detailed instructions. The reminder “Please release the butterfly to the nature” made me laugh. As if we would forget or something.
Here are the caterpillars we got, taking a walk round the rim of the container. They look like good friends, don’t they? PS. The thorns make them look fiercer than they really are.
I must admit, I was a bit iffy about taking care of these butterfly babies. I mean, I clean my baby’s poop everyday. But to clean the caterpillar’s poop was honestly quite something else. You had to open the kit, and make sure the caterpillars don’t get in the way while you tip out their poop and other nasty bits at the bottom. So, our daring daddy did the honors. =P
The next day after we brought the babies home, one of them cocooned! I didn’t quite take a close-up shot of it, so the photograph below is courtesy of godma Ruth, who also kept a kit for herself. The weird thing is, once one of them cocooned, the other caterpillar started to go on a hunger strike. It just refused to eat its usual leaves, even though it was fresh.
We thought it might have been love-sick…
After about 3 days, the caterpillar that had been left behind died.
And then another 4 days passed, and I was near the end of hoping that a beautiful butterfly would emerge. Though I was checking diligently everyday, I tried not to make a big fuss of it just in case our little caterpillar couldn’t make it in the end.
But on the 8th day, it did! Oh happy day! We were so excited, and Vera too. Here’s our butterfly drying out its wings. (At least, that’s why I think the paper had reddish stains on it.)
We quickly went to the park downstairs to set it free. You can also view the video of how we set the butterfly free.
Isn’t it a beauty?
~~~
If you’re interested to get your own caterpillar kit, you can visit Oh Farm’s website for more details: http://www.ohfarms.com.sg. Tel: 6753-8011
Do you have any ideas or tips about teaching your child about nature? I would love to hear your ideas here.
Oh nice!!! Erm, the caterpillars look scary though, but what a nice lesson for the kids! And yes… Sembawang is too “ulu” a place for me too, unfortunately!
It was quite fun and exciting, haha maybe more so for me than for Vera.
Yea, they do look quite intimidating at first glance. You can actually choose the breed of butterfly you want, and the lady at the farm recommended this because of the vibrant colours of the particular breed.
You know what, I tried to DIY my own butterfly growing kit when I found a huge caterpillar on my broccoli. It did cocoon but it just dried up and died. I don’t know what happened, my son was so disappointed. I’d love to get one of those kits! Must check to see if Malaysia sells them.
That butterfly is a beauty!
We are trying to take the kids out to explore nature more often these days - have recently been to the farm. At least they know where eggs come from
Oh dear, well if it’s any consolation, we started out with 4 kits spread among 4 friends (means total of 8 caterpillars), and… ours was the only 1 that made it. That’s a whopping 12.5% success rate! I’m not kidding…the kit actually stated a success rate of 50-60%, so perhaps we just don’t have green fingers? Quite sad…
I hope you find somewhere in Malaysia that sells these kits!
It’s such an amazing transformation. And a gorgeous butterfly.
My kids would love a caterpillar kit.
Thanks Jen! Hope you are able to get your hands on one where you are. Or perhaps make one yourself?
Oh so cute!!! My kids would love this! i’m gonna get a kit somehow!!!
They are quite cute. Oh please do! I would love to see your pics!
Great idea! Will definitely get one of this for my girl when she’s older!
Yeah, you should! Vera is around 2+ but this was still quite fruitful in terms of experience.
I saw this in one of the blogs many months ago and was trying to get one for my boys, but wasn’t able to. Will definitely go try get one for them this time! Looks so interesting!
p.s: I’m having a giveaway over at my blog. Do pop over if you’re interested. Thank you!
It was really quite interesting and fun to watch the entire process. Look forward to you sharing your experience with it! =)
Hi, I visited the Oh Farm’s website that you provided… but couldn’t find any info on buying of caterpillar kit. How did you order those kits? Thanks!
Hi Ing, I called them, and they gave me this number to call (9853-6394). The person’s name is Nancy. You can just go to choose your kit, but safer to call just in case. The farm is open 9 - 5 daily.
Went there twice with Ethan but unfortunately our caterpillars never made it! Seeing the pretty butterfly makes me feel like trying again. Third time lucky maybe?
Oh dear, I feel so sorry to hear that. I hope you do get to try again. I’m also surprised that it’s not as easy as it seems. Nature…sigh. Did you get the self-contained kit with the plant or the smaller kit like ours?