Butterfly Kits

When I taught elementary school, we would order butterfly kits so the students could see most of the life cycle of a butterfly, up close and personal. Butterfly kits usually consist of some kind of housing (net-like), feeders/sugar, eye droppers, instructions and either live or a certificate for live caterpillars. If you want your caterpillars at a later date, go for the certificate.
It's so much fun for kids to see the caterpillars go from one state, to the pupa, to the butterfly. They get to feed them...a perfect temporary pet. :) It's not messy, it doesn't take up a lot of space, and relatively easy. Most of the sites guarantee a certain percentage of the caterpillars turning to butterflies. Can't beat that! If the weather outside is 50 degrees or higher, you can release the butterflies when ready. I've listed two sites below that have butterfly kits for $20-25. There are more expensive options around, but I'm opting for one of these.

http://www.butterfly-gifts.com/live-butterfly-kits.html ($25)





http://www.swallowtailfarms.com/pages/educationalproducts_brk.html ($21-25)