Butterfly Adventure
Maybe you remember my post about con crunch for SC Comicon? I was trying to finish a certain Tinkerbell cosplay, but I decided sleep and sanity were more important. It was beginning to feel like I would never finish this costume when a friend of mine reached out looking for anyone I might know with a fairy costume. Seeing as how I had about 90% of this costume already finished I volunteered as tribute before fully even knowing why or what I was being asked. I’m so happy I did because the Roper Mountain Science Center’s Butterfly Adventure this past weekend was one of my favorite events I’ve been able to help out with.
For those of you who aren’t local to Greenville, SC, the Roper Mountain Science Center is a place for children (and adults) to experience science firsthand. Their mission is “to ignite the natural curiosity of all learners to explore and shape their world.” On the second Saturday of every month they are open to the public for a one of a kind learning experience. They have lots of other cool events too, but for now I’ll just focus on the most recent Second Saturday.
This past weekend’s Second Saturday event was the Butterfly Adventure. The Harrison Hall of Natural Science, Living History Farm and Wildwood, Symmes Hall of Science, and Daniel Observatory all had events focused on butterflies. The main event was in the hall for natural science where visitors could walk through the Rainforest Butterfly Encounter. The day before the event I stopped by for some last minute planning, and they had just added 400 extra butterflies with a total of 12 different species to the exhibit. I have to admit, I was probably more excited than most of the kids to see so many live butterflies in one place.
Other activities included a design lab where kids could design their own wings and put them to the test inside of a wind tunnel, and charging a balloon to make butterfly wings flutter. I won’t tell you about everything that was available for fun, or this would be the longest post ever. If you want to read more about what happened view the event flyer.
What does this have to do with me? Well, they had Fairy Story Time in the Wildwood where Tinkerbell got to read stories to the children. It was magical. I am so lucky to have been able to be a part of such a great day, and I can’t wait to hopefully do more with the Science Center in the future.
Tink even made a new friend, Annie Howell aka Madame Monarch. This lady designed this dress out of an old wedding dress. Not only did she make this beautiful dress, but she helps raise some of the Monarch butterflies that were on display throughout the day!
What kind of events does your hometown have to get kids interested in STEM? I definitely recommend getting involved in these types of events as most of them are majorly operated by volunteers and always looking for more help. What is your favorite type of butterfly? Don’t forget to subscribe via email or Bloglovin‘ to never miss a post!
PS I will be posting Part 2 of How to Construct your own Tinkerbell Wings soon! In the meantime, you can check out Part 1 here.
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This is the cutest blog post ever. :3
Your Tinkerbell costume is amazing – especially the wings – and I love that first picture of your shadow in costume. I love that you sat on a spool of thread to read and Madame Monarch’s dress is gorgeous. What wonderful memories those children will have! We have a nice butterfly exhibit here in Roanoke with a special glass case to watch the new butterflies emerge from their cocoons, and it is a 2-story environment so visitors can walk through the exhibit then visit a rooftop garden and watch the butterflies in their glass dome. The best butterfly exhibit I have seen is the one at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC – there are so many different species there and the staff help visitors actually hold caterpillars. I’m an eighth grade teacher and when I took my girls, they said they felt like Disney princesses surrounded by all the butterflies.
I’ve been to the Smithsonian exhibit for butterflies before, and while this one was smaller it definitely compared to it in the amount of butterflies available. It was awesome!
Thanks for reading!