Our Top 10 Tips for Visiting
Butterflies LIVE! with Your Kids
1. Join as a Garden member for unlimited visits.
As a Garden Member, not only will you and your children get unlimited visits to come back to see the Butterflies, you’ll also get to know that you are supporting our non-profit garden and our educational mission. The exhibit runs from mid-April to early October annually.
2. Butterflies may land on you and your children.
Staff and volunteers have been trained to help if any children become uncomfortable in the exhibit. The Garden also asks that guests refrain from handling the butterflies. Trained butterfly technicians are available to assist if needed.
3. Come watch as butterflies fly for the first time in the exhibit.
Each day we release new butterflies into the exhibit. You may even see newly emerged butterflies take their first flight! Look for information on our newest flying friends as you enter the exhibit. We’ll highlight which butterflies are new to the exhibit, their country of origin, their photo and other neat facts..
4. Print a special edition Butterflies LIVE! Kid Quest before you visit!
The Butterflies LIVE! Kid Quest is like a scavenger hunt — but with butterflies. This search-and-find activity is a great way to make your way through the Garden and is enjoyable for kids and adults. Download and print your own KidQuest (PDF) before you arrive. You’ll have fun searching for these clues and learning why butterflies are attracted to certain plants, why they have such colorful wings, how they taste with their feet, and more amazing facts.
5. Arrive early in the day!
Please note the last group of visitors will be admitted to Butterflies LIVE! at 4:15 p.m. on most days. But, we also have extended hours until 7:45 p.m. during Wednesdays Alfresco (May 18-Sept. 14, 2022). Butterflies LIVE! is part of M&T Bank Pollinator Power including David Rogers’ Big Bugs, both are included with regular Garden admission.
6. Bring a stroller if you think you may need one.
While strollers aren’t allowed in the Butterflies LIVE! exhibit, there is a place to park them outside the Conservatory. If you plan to visit other areas of the Garden, especially the Children’s Garden, you may find a stroller handy, especially at the end of your visit! The Garden has some strollers available (free) in the Visitors Center, but they are limited and on a first-come; first-served basis.
7. A great way to complement your visit to Butterflies LIVE! is by visiting the Children’s Garden.
There are many related activities and programs there, including:
- The Butterfly Meadow: learn about the butterfly’s lifecycle, adaptations and preferences for host plants.
- Kaleidoscope Pointe: located in the Bird and Butterfly Meadow, including the self-directed butterfly-themed NaturePlay.
- The Front Porch Corner at the Carriage House: offers butterfly-related information, activities and literature, plus a place to record your sightings.
- The Monarch butterfly waystation provides milkweed, nectar sources and shelter needed to sustain monarch butterflies as they migrate through North America. Certified and registered by Monarch Watch as an official Monarch Waystation.
- Other activities in the Children’s Garden include self-directed and drop-in activities, the Klaus Famly Treehouse.
- There are restrooms and a changing table in the Children’s Garden area; there are also vending machines.
8. There are bathrooms, changing tables and water fountains in the Robins Visitors Center.
These are things you might want to take care of when you arrive. There are other bathrooms and changing tables in the Garden, but they may not be immediately available.
9. We have a kid’s menu and outdoor seating at the Garden Cafe.
The Garden Cafe in the Visitors Center has a very kid-friendly menu, it’s casual and you can sit inside or outside. You can also purchase food in the Cafe and eat out in the Garden. The Garden does not allow guests to bring meals into the Garden. Snacks are permitted, but we ask guests to eat at tables in the Children’s Garden.
10. We will have 100+ species of butterflies during the extent of the exhibit.
Look for ID cards in the exhibit. You can also meet some of our butterflies online.