Field Trip: Explore the Butterfly Center and Plant Your Own Garden

Since school is a little different this year… we’re posting an idea for a Houston-area (socially distanced, parent led) field trip each week. In each post, we have some resources to read before your trip, details on each stop and parking/driving instructions.

In this field trip, visit the butterfly-filled rainforest and plant your own garden!

Resources:

• Life Cycles of Butterflies (Book)
• Butterflies of Houston and Southeast Texas (Pamphlet)
• Butterflies of Houston and Southeast Texas (Book)
• Monarch Watch (Website)
• Insect Lore Butterfly Garden (Butterfly Habitat for Kids)
• Butterfly Garden Plant List (List from past HMNS Plant Sale)
• How to Make a Butterfly Garden (Website)
• Greater Houston Texas Garden Guide (Website)

At Home:

Plant a Butterfly Garden

As part of your lessons, plant your own butterfly garden! You will need host plants, where adult butterflies lay their eggs, and nectar plants for the butterflies survive.

Learn about what you need HERE and look for plants at local nurseries, like Buchanan’s Native Plants. (The local nurseries often have a better selection than the big box stores.) The Houston Museum of Natural Science gift store often has plants as well.

Explore:

Cockrell Butterfly Center – Houston Museum of Natural Science, 5555 Hermann Park Drive, Houston,Texas 77030

Visit the Cockrell Butterfly Center and Brown Hall of Entomology! Walk through the three-story living butterfly habitat and see some of the world’s largest and weirdest arthropods. See the Butterfly Center’s residents here!

I usually direct you to outdoor spaces or small museums so you can avoid the crowds. Even though the Houston Museum of Natural Science is a popular museum, we did not find many people at the Butterfly Center on our recent trip.

Strollers are not allowed in the Butterfly Center, but there is stroller parking available in the hallway.

An admission fee is required for museum members and non-members.

Drive/Park:

The museum has a paid parking garage but there is free parking in Hermann Park. I would park in Lot C and walk through the beautiful Centennial Garden to the museum.

Find another Houston area field trip: