Helping children preserve and protect the gifts of family, nature, and literacy

Make a Calendar

Make a calendar of plants and flowers butterflies like best. 

• You may need a large sheet of art paper cut into 12 equal areas naming the months on the top of each page.



• Each month, go for walks making notes and drawings of the nectar flowers and host plants you see, or take a picture of them.



• Put your drawing or photo in the right month, marking the time you find them. 



• You might also find a copy of the flower you see in a nature magazine and cut it out.



• Each time you see a nectar flower or a host plant make a drawing, mark the date and place it was growing. 



• Notice whether it is in bud, flowering or in seed. 



• Each time you go for a walk, you can make more notes and add them to a binder. 



• It is especially nice to learn the flowers in your own yard that are good plants to preserve and protect monarchs, especially milkweed. 



• Visit local butterfly gardens to find just what you need for your calendar so that you can learn about the changes in the plants throughout the year. 



• In our area, Roper Mountain Science Center has especially nice gardens and people to help you learn. 



• If your school has a butterfly garden, make a school calendar about butterfly plants and use it as a fundraiser! 



• You may want to send some of the proceeds to organizations working to protect and preserve monarchs.