Flutterbies

We ventured a little further from home than usual and visited a place in Jim Thorpe, PA. It's about an hour and 15 minutes from our house, but what the heck, it's summer and my friend invited us to visit a butterfly house located on Bear Mountain. I couldn't resist.

We were able to attend a special preschool program they have before their regular business hours. The woman leading the activities was so cute with the kids. She told a story about a butterfly to explain how they are created and what their role is in nature using flowers, a butterfly puppet, etc. The kids really had a ball. She also did some songs and fingerplays and ended with a story. Xavier now knows what metamorphosis means and even explained it to Tim at dinner.

She also taught the children the sign for butterfly. The program had so many great learning activities for the kids, which I love, plus the kids had so much fun they didn't even realize how much they were learning.

After the activities the children got to color a picture and add things to their garden. Then they finished it with some butterfly stickers.

At the end the children got to go into the butterfly house to see the butterflies in action. This was by far the best butterfly house I've been to. Usually there are a few butterflies flying above your head and you never get to see them up close. This was an entirely different experience. The butterflies were everywhere. One even landed on my cheek. Xavier kept catching them on his finger. Talk about hands on. This was truly hands on.

Xavier and his buddy Kohlmann.

Gavin got so excited when they came close to him he would squeal in excitement every time.

I could have stayed here all day, but Xavier and Kohlmann were ready to go after about 20 minutes.

Butterflies are such beautiful and gentle creatures. My mom's favorite living thing is a butterfly, so every time I see them I think of her. I'm glad Xavier could experience these up close and personal.