Is it possible to buy eggs and 'farm' butterflies in the classroom?

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DD1s nursery class (4yo) are studying butterflies. Do the eggs need special conditions to hatch? I mean could we buy some eggs on the net and hatch them in the classroom? Has anyone done this?
Thanks!

Caterpillars....?

DS2 did this at nursery. I can't remember if they started with eggs or caterpillars - it was a kit though.

Caterpillars

Insectlore (canot find catalogue but google it and you can order online ) - you can buy eggs to hatch into caterpillars really cheaply and they are easy to do! They also do other creepy crawlies to hatch! Fab resource - we get these each year.

Another vote for Insectlore. We did this at home and were sent caterpillars in the post. It was very exciting. Can only be done late spring/summer though but worth looking into now.

Better than Insectlore the butterflies are native British species and can safely be released once hatched.

www.greengardener.co.uk/butterfly.htm

My son's pre-school are doing this

my dds pre-school are doing this at mo aswell not sure where they got them from though ill ask for you

DSs nursery had the kit Soupy linked to. It worked really well, and had everyone (parents and children) checking each morning on the progress of the chrysilis (sp?).

Dd's nursery also had the set Soupy linked to. It was FANTASTIC!!