Safari Ltd. Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly - Educational Toy Figurines - Miniature Butterfly Lifecycle Collection for Boys, Girls & Kids Age 4+

I'm a long time poultry educator and have been recently on the lookout for toys that can be used to educate children about a wide range of animal species. This life Cycle of a Chicken set is small and impressive in my opinion. the hen is well detailed and can be used to show and discuss feathering, scaly legs, waddles, comb... but, the ears are not defined very well so discussions regarding egg shell color will not tie-in ear lobe colors. There is no rooster, so this may lead to some unanswered questions regarding why those eggs hatched? Adding a rooster to this kit would be helpful in explaining where chicks come from. The details in the hatching chick are particularly nice, it even has a tiny point on top of the beak which indicates the egg tooth that is soon shed after hatching. Some of the hand-painting was missing on the chick's legs, but overall, very well done. I consider this to be a collectible set for elementary school aged children. I also find this very reasonably priced and I give it five stars without hesitation. Excellent for a curious child and I am impressed with Fafari Ltd!

These are great instructional tools for teaching life cycles. I have many sets and the quality is great!

This product worked out great for my Early Childhood class. As a Montessori teacher I want things that are true to life in order to educate the children.

Good quality

So far they’re a hit in my science center - the kids enjoy them.

This set of 3-D butterfly life cycle models is beautiful. They come handpainted, a perfect size for a child to handle and look at. It really helps children who may not understand or have a complete idea about the life cycle of a butterfly, particularly when you may have a class where live butterflies are not easily accessible. It's quite lifelike. However, it's not as durable as I would have wanted. When one of my younger students (3 years old) was looking at the cocoon, it broke off from the twig. The butterfly seems quite flexible but was also broken. I would suggest that a set like this be used for older children who have conceputal ideas of working gently with their materials -- perhaps 5 and 6 years old. Other than that, a great classroom tool!

My preschoolers just loved playing with the individual pieces as well as putting them in the proper ladybug life cycle order. The pieces are large enough to not get lost easily. I added in several books on the lady bug's life cycle, created a sensory habitat in the classroom along with magnifying glasses and a few bug box boxes. We went outside and caught lady bugs as well as ladybug larvae/grubs to study then let go. It all tied in nicely and gave them a hands on understanding. I also bought the monarch butterfly and the frog life cycle. and did the same thing. All are at a reasonable price and a good quality. I highly recommend them.

Safari Toys never disappoint. The life of a ladybug is an authentic depiction of the lifestyle stages and are a good learning toy for homeschoolers teaching this concept. They are also fun toys for children with an interest in insects. Our budding entomologist is four and loves these. He has learned all of the correct terms for the lifestyle stages which are presented on the card in four languages (English, French, Spanish, and German). There are also interesting facts about each stage on the back of the card in four languages. Overall, I highly recommend this. In general I would say you won't go wrong with any of the Safari Ltd toys.