The Butterfly Palace, Branson MO

*This was NOT a paid nor compensated post in any form.

  My heart was fluttering when I got tell my boys that we would officially be taking a trip to Branson, Missouri to The Butterfly Palace!  To them, it was like telling them they were getting to go to Lego Land or something.  Typically, you wouldn't think BOYS ages 7, 11 and 13 years old...would be so excited over Butterflies.  Maybe it's because we homeschool and they were not taught butterflies were girly, but crawling insects that magically transform?  I don't know, but it's the one thing as a woman raising young men - I'm so glad we share the same love for butterflies {and Stan Lee}.  Before I start, I have to tell you that my boys and I spent 4 HOURS inside!!  We did our guided tour with the group, then the lovely staff at the gift shop said we didn't have to go when checking out while my son stood beside me when it was time to go.  Also note, Kingston is usually the first to want to leave anywhere we go.  But she said we paid full admission, so we were allowed to stay all day if we wanted, and if it wasn't for hungry bellies...they probably would have too!  

The gift shop!

The gift shop!!

  In an earlier post, I shared with you our own butterfly habitat observation and discoveries.  We completed a whole unit on the Butterfly Life Cycle and different species and extinction.

  But if YOU love these transforming insects as much as our family does...There is no place to visit like The Butterfly Palace!  It was simply breathtaking.  The building itself set a grand stage with an open lofty gift shop {that we could have spent all day in!}.  If we lived closer - we would take to the comfy chairs there for reading time, no doubt!

  Our group included other local homeschooling families and friends.  After we all arrived - our Educational Hands-On Adventure started with watching a short 3-D movie about the incredible life of a butterfly.

  The Butterfly Aviary.  My middle son demanded it should be renamed to The Butterfly Sanctuary, (I told him to put that in the suggestion box as we left).  We weren't allowed to catch the butterflies, which wasn't a problem - because if you go with a brightly colored shirt...they will catch YOU!    All the children got to gather around the instructor and they gently opened the lid, releasing their butterfly for the first time into the aviary from the hatchery.  It was so adorable to see some spring forward, while most took to the children while they stretched their wings prior to taking flight.

Below is a collection of my videos ~ Enjoy!

• The Butterfly Aviary.    

• The Living Rainforest Science Center

• The Emerald Forest Mirror Maze

By far, my boys could have spent all day running this mirror maze.  I went through it with them a few times and was thoroughly impressed by the attention to detail, and the clever layout design too.  This made the ultimate tag arena for my boys!  We can't wait to go back again.

Malachi

Vaughn

The Mirrors made for great trickery!!!  

• Banyan Tree Bungee Adventure!

This is beaded butterfly art on a stand - we tried to count how many butterflies were inside but there are soooo many!

The walls were filled with these beauties.  You can purchase them in the display case with a large range of species inside.

We love you Butterfly Palace!  The boys got chocolate butterfly lollipops to go (in addition to spending all their savings in the gift shop!  lol)