Our daughters received the Butterfly Garden from their grandfather. The whole family really enjoyed the entire process from catepillar to butterlfy. Very educational for the kids. Unfortunately, though we had three cocoons, only one of the butterflies actually survived. Nevertheless, this is a great gift and one I just bought for my nephew.

I bought this kit for my 5-year-old, but my 3-year-old wound up loving it every bit as much as the older one. The caterpillars arrive in a sealed container with everything they need--all you have to do is observe them. After a week, we placed the cocoons in the habitat, and out hatched five gorgeous butterflies. What's more, they began laying eggs within a few days, and before you know it, we had DOZENS of teeny-tiny baby caterpillars! Of course, we set them free outside (I'm no bug farmer), and we enjoyed painted lady butterflies throughout the rest of the summer. This kit provided my children with a wonderful, exciting learning experience that they will never forget!

I bought one of these last year for my nieces. I also got one for me, and I'm in my 30's. I waited until the spring time to send in my caterpillar certificate. They came in their own little container with just enough food. So you don't need to feed them anything. I tried to put some real food such as leaves from the plants they like to eat in the wild, but they preferred the food that came with them. I think I received 6 caterpillars and they all turned into butterflies. I let them go a day or two after they emerged. Kids are completely fascinated by the process from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. One word of caution, it may not be the best thing to get for Christmas since you may have to wait until spring to get your caterpillars. They will send them in the winter, but I didn't want the butterflies to die on me or freeze to death if I let them go.