The lovely people at Find-Me-A-Gift sent me a Butterfly House and Feeder to check out as a way to amuse my kids. The idea is to put up the house in your garden to attract butterflies to feed in the summer and shelter in the winter. It is a very compact little kit that has everything you need except a nail to fasten it up.
Having read the instructions I realised that we had nowhere in our garden that matched the criteria listed on the instructions. It needs to be in a sheltered spot preferably facing the sunrise. Luckily my mum came round and volunteered to put it up on their garden shed which fits the bill perfectly:
The feeding section in the front is painted with special paint to attract butterflies and you need to put sugar solution in the little yellow bowls. The bigger section is for fruit for butterflies or a special mixture for moths. My parents have a buddleia bush so a section of this was placed inside the house too.
My son decided that we ought to stick our fake butterfly from a bunch of flowers on the outside! Its not been good weather for butterflies since the house was put up so I am awaiting further updates as to how successful it has been.
If you want to get your kids interested in helping butterflies or moths to thrive then this would make a lovely addition to your garden. They cost £19.99 but seem to be really well made. Hopefully they will be helping butterflies for many years to come.
keen to know how you get on. Every year we sow the creepy crawlie seed mixture which attracts butterflies, bees, and all sorts of creepy crawlies including grass hoppers. We've just strung up our bee house that we were given for a birthday and we've a ladybird house too... Must post about them soon. Thanks for sharing x
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