Butterflies.

"Mom, tonight I'm going to dream about my caterpillars, because I love them so much," Everett said as he closed his eyes for the night. That day, five caterpillars had arrived in the mail, and we were going to study them and watch them turn into chrysalises and then butterflies. Everett named them Belly Button, Otto, T-Rex, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops.

Like all kids, Everett loves butterflies. We always have a lot of butterflies in our yard, so it's been fun to learn more about them. Our initial, "Let's learn more about butterflies" turned into an entire semester project. Highlights included buying caterpillars to come in the mail, studying chrysalises, setting our butterflies free, dressing up, a science experiment with flowers, and creating lots of art. The final thing we did to learn about butterflies, the cherry on top, was a field trip to the Safari Park to the Butterfly Jungle. It's pretty magical, and it's only open from March 10-April 15.

Books we enjoyed, most of which we checked out from the library:

• Bye, Bye Butterflies! 
• Just a School Project
• Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly
• Ten Little Caterpillars
• Waiting for Wings
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• The Big Book of Bugs
• Plant the Tiny Seed
• National Geographic Kids: Caterpillar to Butterfly

Resources:

• Butterfly kit
• Butterfly wings (I bought Everett's costume on clearance at Target after Halloween, but it looks like they have something similar on Amazon)

Flying like a butterfly:

Both Everett and butterflies like flowers:

"Look mom, I'm getting the pollen":

Flower science experiment to learn about how flowers drink up the water like a straw:

Painting with flowers:

Fun with food. Making the Very Hungry Caterpillar for snack time:

Studying the chrysalis in our yard:

Observing and drawing his caterpillars when they first arrived in the mail:

Easy butterfly art to learn about symmetry. Drop paint on one side of the paper, fold it over, make a butterfly:

Easy caterpillar art to learn about patterns. Glue pom poms on a paper leaf. Write a story about it: 

"Look mom, it's a chrysalis":

Everett's drawings and observations of the caterpillars in the plastic container, a chrysalis, and a butterfly once it emerged from the chrysalis. 

Finally ready to release the butterflies:

Everett and one of his butterflies before it flew away:

Field trip to the Butterfly Jungle at the Safari Park: