Our Journey with the Symbolic Monarch Migration

At Project Wild Rooted, we’re always on the lookout for meaningful, hands-on experiences that connect our students to the natural world—and the Symbolic Monarch Migration was a beautiful extension of that mission.

This incredible project is a collaboration between Journey North (University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum) and Monarchs Across Georgia (a committee of the Environmental Education Alliance). Over 2,000 classrooms from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico participate each year, making it a powerful, real-world experience in international connection, geography, and life science.

photo credit: https://www.eealliance.org/symbolic-migration.html

How It Worked:

This fall, our students each decorated a paper monarch butterfly. Each butterfly was labeled with the artists first name and the program’s city in Minnesota. Together, we created a class set and mailed them off to the U.S. coordinator—who then bundled and sent butterflies to schools in Mexico. These symbolic butterflies “migrated” just as the real monarchs were making their way south for the winter.

Months later, we received a link to a blog post about the school in Mexico that had received our butterflies. It gave us a beautiful window into their world—who the students are, where they’re from, what their school is like, and how they are learning about monarch butterflies. It was a meaningful way for our students to see how monarchs connect people across borders and cultures.

This spring, we received an envelope filled with 20 butterflies—each one from a different location across North America. Our envelope included butterflies from classrooms including Michigan, Iowa, Vermont, New York, and even Canada! None of our original butterflies returned home—but that was part of the magic. Just like real monarchs, which don’t return to their original starting point, these symbolic butterflies helped our students understand that monarch migration is a multi-generational journey.

As our butterflies made their way back to the U.S. and Canada, we began receiving emails from schools that had received one of our students’ butterflies. Each time we got a message, we pinned that location on our classroom map to track where our butterflies ended up. This sparked curiosity and wonder as we explored each location—bringing geography and storytelling into our lesson in a way that was engaging and real.

An image of Amelia’s butterfly and a special message from a student that received it.

What We Learned:

This experience wove together science, geography, and culture in such a meaningful way. Our students had already raised and tagged live monarchs, but they struggled to grasp what happened after release. The symbolic migration gave that journey a story they could follow, helping them understand how monarch migration takes multiple generations to complete.

Each time a butterfly arrived or we received a message, we turned to maps, and online tools to trace its path—bringing migration routes to life in a way that made sense to young learners.

Hearing stories and seeing photos from classrooms in Mexico gave us a deeper appreciation for monarchs as more than just insects. We learned how they are celebrated in festivals, traditions, and everyday life—helping students see our connection to people across the globe.

Most of all, students were hooked. They cheered when a butterfly from our class was spotted in a faraway place. What started as an art project turned into a rich lesson in empathy, curiosity, and global community.

Interested in Participating?

If you're curious about trying this in your homeschool, classroom, or co-op, you can find all the details at https://www.eealliance.org/symbolic-migration.html. The website includes registration information, timelines, materials, and everything you need to get started. It's a great resource if you're looking to bring monarch migration to life in a hands-on, cross-disciplinary way.