For butterfly lovers (Part 2)

About butterfly gardens

This is Part 2 of a summer long project (in four parts) inspired by Flight of Butterflies currently playing at the Ontario Science Centre’s until Labour Day weekend! 

One stroke of genius in Flight of Butterflies, the Imax movie about the monarchs migration, was to present a colourful butterfly garden set in Toronto’s suburbs as a most welcome stop for the tired travelling butterflies. 

I had underestimated the value of such gardens, filled with milkweed and nectar flowers, in the life cycle of monarchs. Now I think differently and it seems to me that after seeing the movie, many kids will want to help their parents create such a garden in the family backyard or the community garden. 

Don’t wait too long to see Flight of the Butterflies if you want to have time to plant!

Montreal’s Botanical Garden offers an excellent online resource to start such a garden.

Also read:

For butterfly lovers (Part 1)
(About the movie)

For butterfly lovers (Part 3)

(Scarborough Bluffs)

For butterfly lovers (Part 4)

(About butterfly tagging at the end of the summer!)

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For butterfly lovers (Part 1)

The Imax movie Flight of the Butterflies

Were you the kind of kid to chase butterflies during your childhood? Then you might want to read about this summer long project (in four parts) inspired by the monarchs movie currently playing at the Ontario Science Centre’s until Labour Day weekend! 

A couple of years ago, I finally got to visit Presqu’ile Provincial Park with a friend and our two teens during their annual Monarchs & Migrants Weekend, an event involving monarchs tagging which always takes place on Labour Day Weekend. 

Wondering what this has to do with the movie Flight of the Butterflies ? Now that I have seen it, I know for a fact that taking your kids to see the Imax film now will greatly enhance your family's experience at Presqu'ile on Labour Day weekend! 

We were all so thrilled by the opportunity to tag beautiful monarchs during this event that I want to entice you to consider it this year as a “grand finale” activity at the end of your summer. 

About the movie 

I don’t want to say too much about what we learn in the Imax documentary. It would spoil the fun of discovering the marvels of monarchs migration through the story of Canadian zoologist Frederick Urquhart’s journey. He is the one who developed the butterfly tagging system and got the answer to a very good question: Where do the butterflies go for the winter?

Fred Urquhart in National Geographic, 1976

If you’re too curious, visit this link for an excellent summary of Flight of the Butterflies, but resist spilling the beans to your kids! 

Allow them the pleasure of seeing the mystery unfold through the eyes of a scientist (a fantastic story of perseverance and human passion spreading over 40 years) and through the adventures of Dana the butterfly. 

Expect fantastic panoramas of green and blue hues with splashes of orange, and 150-foot wide butterflies filling the giant screen. 

The movie is truly relevant to Torontonians as it features scenes shot at the Scarborough Bluffs, in Toronto’s suburbs and over the CN Tower.

About Ontario Science Centre
General information: Ontario Science Centre
Movie: Flight of the Butterflies hours (book your ticket online at no extra charge to secure your seats!)
Current exhibition: Game On 2.0, until September
(I've seen many dads glued to a video game from the 80's!)
Membership: If you want to visit more than once, I strongly recommend you get a $130 family membership (good for free admission for a year for 2 adults and up to 4 kids, and members pay only $5 for parking).


To be continued in Part 2...

For butterfly lovers (Part 2)

(About butterfly gardens)
For butterfly lovers (Part 3)

(Scarborough Bluffs)
For butterfly lovers (Part 4)
(About butterfly tagging at the end of the summer!)

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