Butterflies are a delight to look at, and provide a great stimulus for work in other areas of the early years curriculum, so we decided to hatch some butterflies and release them into our own butterfly garden.
The children were fascinated, indeed gobsmacked, by the 'growing' process, and remembered the stages of the life cycle months after the butterflies had been released.
Thankfully, there are lots of sources of advice on how to go about establishing a butterfly garden, including Scottish Natural Heritage, English National Heritage, garden centres and websites.
To attract butterflies, you should select a variety of nectar-producing plants, which together will provide blooms all summer. Good choices are annuals, which bloom throughout the season, perennials, such as lilac and asters, and most plants in the mint family.
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