Children captivated by butterfly project
Young learners at Cire Children’s Services have been captivated by a wonderful butterfly project, welcoming some much anticipated and beautiful new arrivals at our Yarra Junction, Mount Evelyn and Chirnside Park sites.
As part of a Junior Landcare and Biodiversity initiative, the children have been learning about the life cycle of butterflies and monitoring special hatching kits to see chrysalis (pupa) turn into butterflies. The butterflies will be progressively released into specially created butterfly habitats at each centre.
The project has captivated all visitors to the Children’s Services sites where educators have created wonderful foyer displays as well as engage children in focused sessions which have included research, butterfly stories and slide show presentations.
It has been thrilling for the children, and staff, to witness the butterflies hatch and soon release them into specially created habitats.
Cire Children’s Services was fortunate to receive Junior Landcare and Biodiversity grants of almost $5000 for the butterfly habitat projects at each of its three sites.
The awarding of the grants in 2020 was timely given the challenges of COVID, particularly 
last year, and to help keep children engaged and give them something exciting to look forward to in the new school year, as well as help beautify the outdoor learning spaces.
The Junior Landcare and Biodiversity project involves the development of habitats featuring native plants that attract butterflies, and the purchase of chrysalis kits so the children can witness and learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. The kits are enabling the children to follow the growth of butterflies, releasing them into the habitats once they are hatched. As part of the project, children have monitored and measured how long it takes for the chrysalides to hatch, measured their growth, explored the best plants for the habitat and will count how many butterflies visit the habitat.
Diletta Lanciana, Executive Manager of Cire Children’s Services, said the project is a wonderfully engaging way to assist children with numeracy, literacy and STEM ie science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is also helping beautify outdoor spaces at the centres for children and their families to spend quiet time and enjoy the natural environment.
In the meantime, the children can proudly call themselves lepidopterologists and may even learn how to spell the tongue-twisting name of those who study and collect butterflies.
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