Flutter by as Butterfly Season Opens at Kidspace

It's time to adopt that caterpillar at the Pasadena children's museum; then, watch the wonder unfold.

What to Know

  • March 17 to May 6, 2018
  • Pasadena
  • Caterpillar adoption is the first step

No way, no how, and nope: You'd never, ever stop a butterfly as it went about its important daily business, the business of sipping nectar, of alighting upon flowers and leaves, and of blithely flitting about, hither and thither.

But you can stop for butterflies, to learn more about these iconic in-the-air insects, and to help your tots grow their knowledge of how butterflies come to be.

A chrysalis plays an essential role, no spoiler alert required, and, inside that chrysalis, a caterpillar, but finding a caterpillar/chrysalis combo to observe can be a mite tricky.

Thank goodness Kidspace Children's Museum is standing by for the inquisitive, butterfly-loving families of Southern California. More than standing by, really, for each springtime the Pasadena-based learning institution hosts a popular Caterpillar Adoptions program, which gives kids the chance to "...experience the magic of metamorphosis."

Those adoptions open for 2018 on Saturday, March 17, and tots can welcome a single caterpillar into their lives for $5.49 or a quintet of catties for $19.99.

The spot? Slink, caterpillar-style, over to the museum's Busy Bee Learning Store.

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"Newly hatched caterpillars arrive weekly," states a note on the museum's web site, and "sales are while supplies last."

And you bet: An adoption certificate is part of the the deal, as is food and instructions on taking care of your little furry, ready-to-transform charge.

When your butterfly is ready for release, you'll want to return to Kidspace to grandly and sweetly send it out to the sky. There are several butterfly-y happenings throughout late March and April at the museum, and a Grand Butterfly Celebration over the first weekend in May.

All the tips and need-to-knows about helping your caterpillar eventually, post-metamorphosis, spread its colorful wings? Kidspace staffers will kindly advise and take you through the steps. 

Observing the timeless transformation while feeling the wonder of it all? That's up to each individual to experience or not, but it is difficult not to be dazzled by this eternal process, one that feels as synonymous with spring as new grass and warm breezes.

Find out more at Kidspace Children's Museum, and adopt your caterpillar soon, to begin the imminent butterflycation, which isn't a word that's found in any textbook, but feels appropriately intense for this way, way cool cattie-to-flutterby event.

The 22nd Annual Butterfly Season flaps its wee wings from March 17 through May 6, 2018.

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