Girlie and I have been actively tending to our current rabble of butterflies and she’s been learning about insects at school, so this seemed like the perfect time to do a Butterfly Life Cycle Lunch.  I give full credit for this idea to Crystal for her Stages of a Butterfly Lunch.  I thought Little Dude would like it too (or at least his teachers will!), so he’s getting the same in his EasyLunchBox:

Butterfly Life Cycle Lunch

Girlie was very excited to see this lunch this morning and she easily recognized all the food stages: an egg to represent the egg stage, a yellow bell pepper caterpillar, a turkey wrapped carrot pupa, and a butterfly!  The kids both have some natural applesauce with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Girlie has broccoli, carrots, and ranch in her small compartment. Little Dude has crackers and cheese in his.

I loved Crystal’s idea for this lunch. I have seen other bento bloggers working in their lunches around other classroom themes, such as the letter of the week, and I think that is a great way to reinforce concepts AND find inspiration for lunches! I need so start doing more of this.

Have you tried growing your own rabble of butterflies yet?  Girlie and I do it at least once a year and we love it!  The caterpillars come in a little cup with their food, they eat, they grow, they hang from the lid in their little cocoons, and they hatch into beautiful painted ladies.  We feed them flowers, sugar water, and orange slices for a few days and then release them. I’ll put up some pictures in the next few days!