Giving Kids Butterflies

Say "nature studies" and kids' eyes glaze over. Say "bugs" and that's a different story. A new exhibit at the American Museum Of Natural History in New York City is giving kids butterflies...Literally. CBS News Correspondent Tracy Smith reports for The Early Show's Study Hall.

Deep inside the one of New York's biggest museums is a little bit of rainforest. Actually, they have to fake the rain, and fake the sunlight, and fake the jungle noise. But the residents here are real: hundreds of butterflies. All colors, shapes, sizes. Of course you can't touch them. But they might touch you.

If you've ever tried to catch a butterfly you know that normally it's hard to get close to them, but here there are hundreds and hundreds of them, all over the place. So they'll land right on you, sometimes in a compromising place.

What is it about butterflies that gets people so excited? "I'm not sure. There are so many reasons. They are absolutely beautiful, says Dave Harvey, exhibit director.

And as insects go, they're friendly. They may even leave a present on your shoulder, butterfly dung. It goes with the territory.

Another problem with exotic butterflies and moths is that they tend to hang out near the lights, go figure, so a staff of butterfly wranglers are there to keep them flying.

And since they don't live all that long, new butterflies are shipped in all the time.

One goal of the exhibit is to give kids a close-up look at something they'd probably never see on their own.

"I want kids to come away with a sense of wonder and excitement about nature," says Harvey.

The butterflies themselves will only live a few weeks. But the experience will last for years.

The exhibit will be open through Memorial Day. The Museum is open daily, 10:00 a.m.-5:45 p.m. except Thanksgiving and Christmas. The last timed-entry to the exhibition is at 5:00p.m.