Making a
Butterfly Feeder!
If you’d like to attract some colourful butterfly friends to your backyard, we’ve got just the thing, a butterfly feeder you can make right now with household items!
This will allow you to observe some of these amazing insects and study them for yourself. Maybe you can even find some caterpillars to grow.
Making a Butterfly Feeder!
Materials
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A paper cup
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String
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Scissors
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A sponge
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Coloured paper (brighter is better)
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Tape
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Orange Juice or Butterfly Food
Procedure
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With the help of someone who can use scissors, poke two holes in the top of the cup, opposite from one another.
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Cut a piece of string about 1 foot in length and tie each end into one of the holes in the cup.
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Turn the cup over and poke a hole in the bottom middle, move the scissors around to make the hole a little wider.
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Cut a piece of the sponge that will fit into the bottom of the cup. Put it inside and push it through the opening just a little bit.
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Draw a flower on your coloured paper. The leaves should be bigger than your cup. You’ll also need to cut a hole in the middle a little bigger than the hole in the bottom of the cup.
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Tape your paper to the cup, lining up the holes and allowing the sponge to poke through.
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Now add 3 tablespoons of Orange Juice. This will soak into the sponge and slowly drip, giving the butterflies some sweet food. If you’d like to use Butterfly Food instead, follow this recipe:
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In a small pot over low heat, slowly heat 1 cup of water and ¼ cup of sugar. This should reduce in about an hour to make a ½ cup of butterfly food, a clear syrup you can use in place of the orange juice.
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Hang your cup from a tree in the garden and wait for butterflies! You can also experiment with different colours of paper to mimic different flowers of different juices. These changes can attract different butterflies and you can take notes about your observations.
THIS EXPERIMENT IS GREAT FOR BEGINNER EXPLORERS,
USES HOUSEHOLD ITEMS, AND REQUIRES
ADULT SUPERVISION FOR USE OF SCISSORS. A STOVE IS
REQUIRED IF YOU MAKE YOUR OWN BUTTERFLY FOOD.
