Looking for a fun activity this Saturday? Join us at the Children’s Museum for our Butterfly Tag-Along, August 29th from 12-2PM. Enjoy a fun filled day while learning about butterfly migration and how we track them on their adventures!
Families are invited to celebrate the magic of monarch migration through hands-on learning, butterfly-inspired activities, and the chance to watch monarch butterflies receive a tracking tag before beginning their incredible journey south. It is a fun, meaningful way for children to connect with nature, learn about pollinators, and create a late-summer memory together.
WHAT IS THE GREAT BUTTERFLY TAG-ALONG?
The Great Butterfly Tag-Along is a family-friendly monarch butterfly event at the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota in Mankato. During the event, Museum facilitators will tag monarch butterflies as they prepare to migrate to Mexico for the winter.
Children can see monarchs up close and learn how scientists and community members use tagging to better understand their migration. Every butterfly tag has an identifying number, helping connect each butterfly with information about where and when it was tagged if it is later recovered.
Monarch tagging helps researchers study important questions about the fall migration, including the timing and pace of the journey and where butterflies that reach Mexico originated.
ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES
The Butterfly Tag-Along is more than a quick demonstration. Families can enjoy a full afternoon of hands-on, butterfly-themed fun, including:
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- Butterfly-inspired crafts
- Face painting
- Special guests
- Family fun
Come and celebrate the magic of migration as we mark the end of another beautiful butterfly season!
WHAT TIMES IS TAGGING AVAILABLE?
Museum facilitators will lead group monarch tagging presentations at:
- 12:00 pm
- 12:30 pm
- 1:00 pm
- 1:30 pm
- 2:00 pm
WHAT TO EXPECT
During each presentation, a Museum facilitator will:
- Tag a live monarch butterfly
- Share fun facts about monarch migration
- Demonstrate how and why tagging works
- Explain how families can track the butterfly’s journey
Each guest who participates in a group tagging presentation will receive a tagging certificate with a unique tagging number to follow their butterfly’s flight.
This program is included with Museum admission or membership!
WHY DO MONARCH BUTTERFLIES MIGRATE?
Each fall, monarch butterflies across southern Minnesota, including right here in Mankato, begin their journey to overwintering grounds in central Mexico. That means the butterflies kids see in their own backyard this time of year could be the same ones we tag at the Museum!
At the Butterfly Tag-Along, children can see how a local butterfly connects to a much bigger story of migration, pollinators, habitats, and conservation.
It’s a chance to help children move from simply seeing a butterfly to asking bigger questions: Where is it going? How far will it travel? What does it need to survive? And how can people help protect monarchs and other pollinators?
THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSOR!
This event is made possible thanks to the generous support of the CenterPoint Energy Foundation.
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Make the Butterfly Tag-Along part of a full day at the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota!
Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota
224 Lamm Street
Mankato, MN 56001
The Butterfly Tag-Along is included with regular Museum admission or membership.
