May 30, 2026 – August 30, 2026
About
Get ready to fly high with Butterfly Odyssey, a high-energy, immersive, roleplay journey in rainforest conservation, that explores the sustainable business of butterfly farming!
Become a butterfly and see if you are one of the lucky 2% of caterpillars that makes it to adulthood in the wild. Can you survive the spider’s web, hairy plant trap, and predators’ wheel? Then experience a more sheltered life as a farmed butterfly. Identify eggs of different butterfly species at the host plant and egg hunt; feed each caterpillar the correct “leaves” at the bean bag toss; and undergo metamorphosis first-hand as you turn into a chrysalis along with the hungry caterpillars.
After caterpillars pupate, it’s time to get moving! Race against the clock and fill orders to send butterfly chrysalises around the world in time for them to hatch and take flight. Along your journey, uncover other sustainable rainforest enterprises that impact your daily life, like fair trade crafts, organic farming, and farmer-owned coffee cooperatives.
Learning about unique sustainable practices like butterfly farming at Butterfly Odyssey is the first step toward balancing resources for a healthy planet. Butterfly farming not only protects native butterfly populations, it also allows farmers to raise butterflies for a profit without damaging rainforests. Regardless of where you live, you rely on products and services provided by tropical rainforests.
In addition to providing familiar products like bananas, chocolate, and coffee, we can all take a deep breath and thank the rainforest. Almost one-quarter of the world’s oxygen is produced there. Not only do we rely on rainforests to meet our needs, nearly half of all Earth’s animal species can be found in rainforests and rely directly on them for survival.
Managing the needs of people and planet is a delicate balancing act. Rainforests around the world are under threat due to over-harvesting and habitat destruction, but sustainable practices provide a blueprint for using resources today in a way that ensures they will be available for generations to come.
Butterfly Odyssey is developed by Minotaur Mazes and sponsored locally by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
