Inspiring the next generation to love butterflies and moths.
By sharing our knowledge and enthusiasm for butterflies and moths we hope to inspire a new generation of naturalists, volunteers and conservationists. Most of all, we hope that our education work will spark a childhood connection to nature that will last a lifetime, providing a wealth of benefits to children and wildlife alike.
Munching Caterpillars
In 2012, a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund kick-started our ‘Munching Caterpillars’ education programme. We visited primary schools with our unique, hands-on workshops, giving children the chance to come face to face with colourful caterpillars, delight in opening a moth-trap and get their hands dirty planting food and nectar plants for butterflies, moths and caterpillars in their school grounds. We went along to a huge range of community and public events, and ran training workshops for our partners to share ideas and resources.
Our work continues to take Munching Caterpillars to other regions, to develop our resources and spread our message further. We are developing ideas to engage communities more widely in our work and to bring a new wave of volunteers to support our work. Projects currently underway include:
- The Butterfly Effect, Gloucestershire
- Munching Caterpillars, Scotland
- Wild in Winchester
- Munching Caterpillars Goes to Town, Bristol
Resources
Our Munching Caterpillars projects have generated a fantastic selection of resources for use in the classroom, with groups or even just at home. We have ID guides, activities and more available to download from the Munching caterpillars website: www.munchingcaterpillars.org
Get involved
To find out more about our education work and ways you can get involved please contact our Education Officer, Kate Merry @email
We also have a special family membership deal which includes a pack containing hard copies of our resources and a regular newsletter for our young members. Many of our local branches run events and activities suitable for families including moth trapping sessions and guided walks.
Funders
We are extremely grateful to the following funders who have supported our work:
National Lottery Heritage Fund, Restore our Planet, Ernest Cook Trust, People’s Postcode Lottery, John Spedan Lewis Foundation, and many generous contributions from our members and other individuals.