Last week, Splig celebrated his fifth birthday (has it really been five years?) Today, he's having his party. So, his birthday has been drawn out a bit, only bisected by the Fourth of July holiday. He wishes his birthday could go on and on and on...
Last year, his birthday actually did go on, in that a relative sent him a present in the autumn. In many ways, I'm glad for the delay - because of course it gave him something to open up several months after the fact. But then on the flip side, I guess he thinks he can have "birthday presents" anytime during the year.
But I digress.
The present he received last autumn was an Insect Lore Live-Butterfly Garden. Ironically enough, he received a Live-Butterfly Treehouse as a prize during our Activeion meeting with Bill Nye the Science Guy - so next go around we'll double our fun! There are also Butterfly Pavillions available if you want larger numbers of butterflies at one time.
I'll admit I was skeptical at first. My first and only experience of "send away for live animals" was with one of those traditional green plastic sand Ant Farms.
I was so eager to get my ants!
Alas, the envelope containing the ants was left on our front lawn. Not sure how that happened, but we crossed our fingers and prayed for the best. The majority of the ants never awakened from their mail-induced stupor. They may have been fried by the sun on our lawn, too. Those that did wake up made a tiny tunnel and then died. A second batch of ants was equally sluggish, even though I was extra-vigilant about making sure all our mail made it inside promptly.
When Splig's caterpillars arrived, he was so excited!
But of course they were not moving. ahhhh, I thought, not again!
But the next day they had moved from their previous positions. Little strings hung around the container that hadn't been there before. The tiny caterpillars became bigger, and bigger, and bigger. I never saw them move, but they were certainly growing.
Splig checked in with his precious caterpillars every day. He was so proud!
Before we knew it, they had spun their chrysalises and it was time to carefully transfer them to the net habitat. Five chrysalises were formed, and five butterflies emerged about a week later.
Splig was thrilled. I was stunned that we actually had live butterflies. Splig loved his butterflies so much, but knew that for them to live long-term we had to release them. (He made me promise that we'd get more caterpillars once it became warm again, so I think I'd better hop to it.) In the meantime, he's asked about "his butterflies" several times even though it has been months since we released them. During a particular afternoon we saw a bunch of butterflies outside. "Those must be my butterflies' babies!" Splig remarked.
I must admit I was surprised at how successful the caterpillar-to-butterfly experience was for us. It truly is a fun thing for kids (and adults) to experience.
Ordinarily, I'd say it would make a great gift, but... one "disclaimer" I need to make is that the caterpillars come at an additional cost. I remember being a little annoyed that I had to send a check for $3 to get the caterpillars. I wondered if they couldn't just add the $3 on the price of the kit initially so that the first "batch" of caterpillars would end up being "free?"
(And so, if giving this as a gift, find out how much the caterpillars will cost, and then give the recipient the cash so it is truly a "gift." I certainly don't blame my relative on this point and $3 is a minor deal, but it was just annoying to use up a check - and if I am the gift giver I want to make sure things are as easy for the recipient as possible.)
On the box of the Butterfly Pavilion, a large "FREE CATERPILLARS!" box is prominently displayed; but then in the product description it shows a cost of $5 for "shipping and handling." Nice trick, guys.
For the Butterfly Treehouse, the get-your-caterpillars coupon requires a SIX dollar charge. Next to the payment instructions is an asterisk that then contains the tiny-print "Please note that this is a first time only reduced cost."
Reduced cost? Six dollars is "reduced?" Sure enough, a "refill" is 14.99 for an additional 3-5 caterpillars, either via pre-paid certificate or culture to be sent ASAP. Ironically enough, such a pre-paid certificate for larvae is what I'd want to include if providing this as a gift -- but at $14.99 for the certificate versus $3-6 using the certificate inside the habitat, the latter is a "better" choice.
Both the "treehouse" and "garden" are provided 5 caterpillars (of which 3 are guaranteed to survive) so either the cost doubled in the past year, the version we received last year was actually much older (but they honored our $3) or perhaps the cost is different depending on the originating vendor of the habitat. I say "of the habitat" because the caterpillar provider is Insect Lore - regardless of whether the treehouse/pavilion/garden is "Bugville" "Insect Lore" "Spinmaster" or another manufacturer. The "pavilion" receives "6-10" larvae. Interesting, because for $5 I can get 6-10 but for $6 I only receive 3-5?
In sum, the cost involved in actually obtaining the butterfly larvae varies, and increases significantly if you want a "refill." (For $21 you can purchase both the habitat and the caterpillars, and yet it is $15 to get the caterpillars separately - so clearly the cost is with the larvae.)
Nonetheless, I'd like to see the initial habitat come with no added shipping and handling for the caterpillars. Up the cost of the habitat to avoid that extra check or charge!
Even with the hassle of remitting payment twice, this is a really fun - and educational - product.
At the same time that we received the butterfly garden, I also received the book Lady Flatterley after I responded in the affirmative to a product pitch sent to me via email. This book has beautifully-drawn colored-pencil illustrations that have a fun "homemade" feel. The story itself is great for kids nervous about change. The protagonist - a caterpillar - admires the butterflies, not knowing she will eventually become one. But the road is tough, because breaking out of a chrysalis and learning how to fly are difficult. But (and you knew this ending was coming!) of course she overcomes her fears and becomes that amazing butterfly that she aspired to be. This particular book has a religious bent in that it is "God's Plan" that she become a butterfly, and thus has lines like "God wanted Flatterley to learn how to thrive, so He gave her instincts on how to survive." And so, you may want to stay away if you don't want that particular flavor, but I support it and didn't feel it was overbearing. I especially wanted the Cat to understand that things aren't always easy - hard work ends up leading to reward and change can be rewarding. This is a message that kids on the spectrum need to hear over and over again!
The pairing of both a butterfly habitat to watch real butterflies and a butterfly book such as Lady Flatterly can be terrific.
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The two butterfly habitats we have were given to us as gifts -- the first for Splig's 4th birthday, the second during our Activeion trip. Lady Flattery was provided to me free-for-review with no other compensation, commission, or promise to write a positive review. The above words are my own.
