Your students, youth group, and community can be heroes to monarchs and other types of garden wildlife!
Your classroom or community group can be a hero to the monarch by providing the food, shelter, places to raise its young, and water. Creating monarch and butterfly habitat is a wonderful opportunity for observing one of nature's most miraculous occurrences.
Sadly, the plants (milkweed) monarchs need to lay their eggs and feed their baby caterpillars are becoming less and less available due to habitat destruction. But you can help!
- Take a picture of your class or group making the international sign language symbol for butterfly as a pledge to be heroes to start a butterfly garden at your school or in your community.
- Pledge your group and encourage students and their families to pledge on their own!
- Fill your garden with native milkweed and nectar plants from local garden centers or grow more from seed in your classroom.
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Explore and Learn - Be Citizen Scientists!
- There are many ways your monarch habitat garden can engage students and youth in nature.
- Seedling observation and measurement can introduce math concepts, tracking weather impact on your garden and observing the impact on its growth supports life sciences. Once the monarchs arrive, making notes on their life cycle offers a fascinating hands on learning.
- Learn about Eco-Schools USA and see how your school can get involved!
Join the Butterfly Heroes Community and be a part of the Garden for Wildlife Movement!
The more milkweed in your yard, neighborhood and the community increases the odds of many monarchs heading your way. Learn more about the National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitat program or start a certified Community Wildlife Habitat. Share your garden on the National Wildlife Federation's Facebook page and Twitter using the hashtag #butterflyheroes.
Join the growing movement of people making a difference for wildlife where they live, work, learn, worship, and play! Just go to nwf.org/garden.
