Written by Grace Hodgin @ Blessed Elements
I plan my activities when my grand children come to visit. I find if I keep them busy doing planned activities they have a better time. I believe every moment is a time to teach and reinforce math, reading and problem solving skills while having fun.
This summer we learned about butterflies. I scheduled crafts, recipes, gardening and a field trip to the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville to see their butterfly exhibit of exotic live butterflies.
We made butterflies for our craft activity and butterfly pancakes for our recipe project.
Making butterflies from construction and tissue paper is a fun activity for children of various ages.
What You’ll Need:
— Construction paper
— Tissue paper
— Pipe cleaners (plain or bumpy chenille)
— Glue stick or liquid glue
— Scissors
— String to hang them from objects (optional) or magnets to stick them to your fridge.
— Pattern for butterfly (Click the link to download a .pdf of the pattern.)
Step-By-Step Instructions:
1.) Draw the butterfly pattern on construction paper. Take an extra sheet of construction paper and put it under the piece you’ve drawn your pattern onto. When you cut, you’ll have two identical butterflies. You’ll need one for the top and one for the bottom.
2.) Take one piece of tissue paper and cut out the butterfly pattern. Trim it so it will be smaller than the construction paper you are going to lay it on.
3.) Put glue on one side of the construction paper and lay the tissue paper pattern on top. Now take the second piece of construction paper and apply glue and lay it on top of the tissue paper.
4.) Take a piece of pipe cleaner and cut it to the right length for the body.
5.) Glue it in the center of the wings for the butterfly body to complete the butterfly.
Here is a picture of a finished butterfly made from a different pattern.
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Kick-off a butterfly-themed day with some tasty butterfly pancakes. The kids can help decorate their butterflies with blueberries and bananas.
Kick-off your day with some food fun. I made pancakes and inserted fresh blueberries in holes I made in the wings and used a banana for the butterfly body.
Finish off your fun, butterfly-themed day with this cool Butterfly Garden Activity.
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— Grace Hodgin
Inspiring Grandparents To Nurture Children’s Creativity at Blessed Elements
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Photos © Grace Hodgin, Blessed Elements Blog
