How Can We Take Action to Help Butterflies?

Plant native plants that butterflies and caterpillars want to eat!
Butterflies and caterpillars love to eat, but can be picky. Imagine you went to a grocery store and all they had was one kind of food! Plant different kinds of plants and flowers to give them options. Ask students and learn together: What plants are native to our area that would be yummy to our new friends? Where could we plant them?

Make a space for butterflies to rest!
Butterflies are so busy they need a safe and sunny spot to warm their wings to fly. Collect flat stones and place them in your garden for butterflies to rest in the sun.

Butterflies like puddles?!
Butterflies like to hang out together and “puddle”: they drink water and eat vitamins from damp puddles. Get a shallow pan and put coarse sand and stones and put it in the soil. Add a little water to keep the sand moist so butterflies can socialize and eat important vitamins!

Keep learning, asking questions and observing! When we know more, we can do more to help our planet. After you release the butterflies, there’s still so much more to explore and learn about. Find more books at the library, ask adults questions, and go on a walk to find butterflies, caterpillars and flowers.

Teach others!
Now that you’ve learned so much about caterpillars and butterflies, share something you learned each day with someone new at home or at school. You could share artwork you made, tell them something cool about caterpillars and butterflies, teach them a song, or read a book together. The more we all know, the better we can treat our planet.