Welcome Terri!

How exciting to start a new hobby. Word of warning, butterfly gardening is addictive. So, start slow. A good way to start is to take the girls on a field trip to a nearby park or garden. Within a mile of your house. Or else a walk in your neighborhood. What butterflies do you see? Can you identify them? We can help with that if you take pictures. Once you identify them, figure out what their host plants are. See if you can add these to your garden or encourage them if they are already growing. Nectar plants are easy but host plants take a bit more thinking and planning. We all love tiger swallowtails but some of us don't have room for a 60 foot tulip tree, which is their host plant(though many of us have them in pots LOL). The best way to populate your yard with butterflies is to figure out what is already in the area and add plants to encourage them. Then when they come to lay eggs, you can collect them and raise them yourselves.

The FAQ pages at the top of the butterfly garden board lists host plants for different species and is a good place to start. If you have a local Lepidopterist society or NABA chapter, they may have a web site that can help you too. The Xerces Society and Smithsonian Institution has a nice book "Butterfly Gardening: Creating Summer Magic In Your Garden" and "The Lifecycle of Butterflies" by Wayne Richards and Judy Burris is also a nice book to look at, especially for kids. Your local library may have these titles.

I have two girls, 10 and 7, and they enjoy most of the aspects of butterflies (they don't care for butterfly surveys in 90 degree weather). They each have their favorites and we try to encourage those.

And of course, feel free to ask questions on this board. No question is too small or complicated. We will take our best shot at answering. But remember it is free advice so take it for what it is worth:).

Cheers,
Elisabeth

P.S. my mom was born on L.I. and my grandparents lived there when I was growing up. I miss it so much living in land locked Ohio. If I could move there I would in a NY minute!

Welcome, Terri!
And ditto to what Elisabeth said.
Sherry

My favorite book for families is "The Family Butterfly Book" by Rick Mikula.

It has species information, rearing, crafts, your kids will love it.