Summer Nature School: Butterflies of Saskatoon
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3 Ecosystems + 3 Seasons + 3 Field Trips
We’ll explore the Saskatoon Natural Grasslands, Petursson’s Ravine and the Northeast Swale for butterflies. We’ll learn about what butterflies prefer different habitats and why. Our Butterfly Brochure has butterflies by season so we can be successful looking for butterflies when they are most likely to be present.
We’ve had field trips out to each of these habitats but are happy to re-visit any of these wildspaces. Email me at Carmen@woodlandartadventures.ca to arrange a field trip for your family.
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8 Crafts + Hands on Learning
We’ve lined up 8 simple butterfly crafts using household recyclables and activities to combine our love of nature with art. We’ll also explore how to make our yards more butterfly friendly and learn a little bit about moths.
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Citizen Science
Participating in this project will help gather data, it’s a child-led citizen science project. The data collected will help scientists monitor butterfly populations in Saskatoon’s wildspaces.
Answers to Common Questions
I won’t be able to make it out to the three Butterfly field trips - can my children still participate?
Yes! All the information to participate is included in the downloadable e-guide, so if you’re away camping on field trip days you can still participate.
My kiddos are terrified of ticks. Can we do this project from the comfort of our backyard?
The butterflies and moths that we see in our backyards are drawn to urban habitats, that’s why we see so many cabbage butterflies each summer. We’d love to get kids out exploring wildspaces but if your backyard is as far as they want to go then lean into it and enjoy.
Butterflies move so quickly and look different depending if their wings are open or closed. How can kids correctly identify the butterfly species?
Using the Butterfly Brochure we’ve provided will help. We’ve included the most common butterflies you’ll see and grouped them by the season they are most plentiful in. Mistakes happen, that’s how we learn!
This project would not have been possible without the help and inspiration of Greg Fenty and Anna Leighton, who encouraged me to share my enthusiasm and shared their knowledge of Saskatoon butterflies.
My thanks to Penny and Andrew of Ecofriendly West for their generous grant to produce the laminated butterfly brochure of Saskatoon butterflies for children.
Thank you to David Deplaedt of Preston Crossing Canadian Tire for the donation of prizes.
See what we’ve been up to on Instagram.
