Butterflies are amazing creatures that can give a great impact to young minds. So here is a wonderful craft that features them and let your kids have a truly enjoyable time doing it. It would even be best if you give them a hand and your important presence.
This small project will yield a colorful and fun butterfly sun catcher made of tissue paper and foam sheet. In lieu of foam sheet, you can use black card stock or construction paper for the outline of the butterfly. You can do this craft on any regular afternoon, or even save it for an upcoming party.
If you are expecting a party, you can cut the butterflies ahead of time using foam sheets. You can then individually give them to the kids and let them cut out the tissue papers using safety scissors to glue them together. They can take their butterfly sun catchers with them after the party and hang them in their windows.
For this craft, you will need the following materials:
- 8 ½” x 11” White notebook paper;
- Pencil;
- Scissors;
- 8 ½” x11” Black foam sheet;
- Tissue paper in your favorite colors;
- White glue;
- Googly eyes (optional); and
- Clear tape.
Instructions:
- To make the pattern, use the white notebook paper. Fold it in half then use the pencil to draw half of the butterfly, with the body carefully situated along the length of the center fold. Draw from the top to the bottom of that folded page and let the wings fill the entire page all through the edge.
- Carefully cut out the butterfly still attached at the fold. When you unfold it, you will have a whole butterfly, but keep it folded to be used as a pattern on the black foam sheet.
- Fold the foam sheet into two parts. Place on top the white pattern, with the butterfly body on similar part as the fold. Do the tracing around the pattern before cutting out the butterfly.
- Keep your black foam butterfly folded in half. Make a half inch cut from the edge to the top wing, thereby creating that round shape on its top section. Do likewise at the bottom section, until only what’s left is the outline of such wings.
- To reveal the butterfly outline, unfold the foam.
- On top of the tissue paper, lay the butterfly. Trace lightly the whole outline.
- Make a cutout that is larger than your initial pencil outline. Have the entire process repeated for each wing. When you’re through, you will have 4 cutouts of the tissue paper.
- Put a thin strip of white glue on each outline and paste them on the tissue paper and repeat the process for all the four sections.
- Cut out two antenna shapes from the remaining foam sheet and glue them on the butterfly.
- You can also add the googly eyes on the butterfly.
- Use the clear tape to stick in the window your first finished Butterfly Sun Catcher. You can make some more and later watch as the light shines through them.