Folkmanis Monarch Life Cycle Reversible Hand Puppet Plush, 8", Red-Orange/Purple/Black

Great gift for kids but might need adult help to go from stage to stage with everything being so tightly packed and needing to be zipped.

Let me start by saying we have SO MANY of these Folkmanis (and other) puppets. Tying it into a soon to be butterfly unit in our homeschooling, and thought this was going to be just absolutely perfect based on reviews and such, because how cool is it to have a transforming butterfly puppet?!It's beautiful - absolutely no doubt, 5/5 stars originality as well. The material is soft, and it's big! The wings are floppy and soft, very easy for even my huge hands to fit in and play with. The detail in the wing pattern and the eyes used, not to mention the little hairs, are so adorable. The chrysalis stage is rather basic, but I liked the thoughtfulness of the little hook added to the top so one could hang it like the real thing if so desired. The caterpillar stage is also adorable. Fat, chunky, but basic, with the two sets of hair/antennae on either end. The shape is really like a colorful lump though, no legs but the pattern is identifiable so I don't think most people would mind.The problem comes into the execution of the transformations of the product. The more I worked with it myself, the easier it became to transform as I had to learn how to push things in and where. One cannot just stuff the butterfly wings into the pouch and expect it to zip up properly without a hitch. There is absolutely zero wiggle room in this thing in terms of folding it up and being able to zip it up. Thankfully I had my son to test it out in terms of how easy it was to transform. He loved it! So he REALLY worked at it, but it was still quite a struggle, and this kid's fine motor skills are pretty advanced, so it wasn't just that. It was truly a struggle. In the end I forsee the frustration of the child trying to transform themselves, and the frustration of the parent being asked to constantly stop to have to do it themselves. This product is perfect for classrooms and nature centers, makes a fantastic teaching tool. But unfortunately, even though my son absolutely loved this product despite his frustrations with the transformations, I returned because for the cost, this was just not justifiable even for our classroom use.UPDATE: So I ended up keeping this, because two months later kiddo would not stop talking/asking for it, and we're learning life cycles, so I got roped back in. I have to admit that I'm glad I did, because all the kids I've used this with since have loved it and parents keep asking where we got it for their kids. It definitely becomes easier to transform I think once the puppet "breaks in" a bit. The zipper is also better on this one vs the first one we ordered, so maybe that was part of the problem. Still no wiggle room, kid still needs help transforming, but it's a huge hit. Updated to five stars!

My grandson loves it. He’s 8.

I love this butterfly! Super easy to move through the life cycle. My 5 year old can do it independently. And durable enough to withstand a 5 year old learning & trying to zip it when there is material in the way. My kids all love it!

A great product for the price. A little hard to get used to using zippers are a little stiff but with practice it works very well.

I found it was very difficult to maneuver from pouch to pouch, almost to small to zipper with ease...I can't see my granddaughter enjoying this much as the zippers are hard to close, very tight fit....

The Monarch butterfly puppet looks very realistic. It even has a proboscis, the butterfly's long hollow tube for sipping nectar! I used this Monarch butterfly puppet to teach a lesson about pollinators, along with Folkmanis' bee and hummingbird, at my Library's summer reading program. Because the puppet is large, it was easy to see the insects body parts: head with antennae and proboscis , thorax with legs attached and abdomen. The puppet helped the children to enjoy the beauty of a Monarch butterfly and to hopefully encourage them to plant their milkweed seeds, a Monarch's host plant, to help save these beautiful butterflies.

My daughter was a monarch butterfly for Halloween and really wanted a caterpillar stuffy to carry. This was perfect! It was a bit of a splurge, but the attention to detail and education potential makes it worth it in my book. My daughter noticed the scent glad spots on the butterfly - "it's a male!" she proclaimed. The chrysalis has gold trim like the real thing, and the stripes on the caterpillar are spot on! Changing between the forms is a little challenging and takes practice, but works pretty well once you've figured out the process (tucking the wings in separately works better than together. All in all, cute a thoughtfully designed item!

The children in my 3-5 year old class love this! What a wonderful and creative idea!My only wish was that the zippers were less sticky. It kind of takes the magic out of the design if teacher is struggling with the zippers. I wonder, perhaps metal zippers would function better?All in all I am so excited to have this and look forward to getting the ladybug and frog!🥰- Teacher Vanessa

Diese Handpuppe ist einfach toll. Sie zeigt Kindergartenkindern komplexe Vorgänge in der Natur von Insekten auf einfach und anschauliche Weise. Überdies ist die Handpuppe sehr schön gefertigt und weckt sofort das Interesse der Kinder. Zugegeben die Puppe ist nicht ganz billig, aber mit dendrei Segmenten Made, Puppe und Falter ist sie ihren Preis wert, also preiswert. Sehr empfehlenswert, besonders für Kleinkinder

Sehr edel und sehr schön verarbeitet - hochwertiges Material - liebevoll genäht .... ich bin begeistert :-)dankeschön

Purchased these as gifts for a few teachers of kids K-2. Great quality, excellent teaching tool. A huge hit with the recipients.

Wie immer von der Marke Topqualität wunderschöne tolle Farben tolle Stoffe sieht aus wie echt wir sind einfach nur begeistert haben schon ganz viele Produkte von Folkmanis