Crafts to Make Butterflies With Tissue Paper & Wooden Clothespins
Making butterfly crafts is a good spring activity that you can do while teaching your child about insects that are in your garden. Many children are amazed to find out that caterpillars turn into beautiful butterflies. Teach children about the process of metamorphosis -- when a caterpillar builds a cocoon and becomes a butterfly-- and how something seemingly ugly can become beautiful.
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Tissue Paper Butterflies
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To make a simple butterfly, all you need are tissue paper and a wooden clothes pin. Take a piece of tissue paper and fold it up like an accordion, alternating the folds on each side of the tissue paper. Place the tissue paper half way through the wooden clothes pin so it is even on both sides. Set aside. Bend a black pipe cleaner in the middle so it makes the share of a "V." Place it at the top of the clothespin where there is a circular groove. The pipe cleaner will be the antenna of your butterfly.
Big Butterfly
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Fold a piece of big tissue paper in half. Draw one butterfly wing on it so it stops at the middle fold. Then cut the butterfly wing out of the folded paper. Open it up. You should have two butterfly wings that are symmetrical. Paint a toilet paper role and a wooden clothespin black. Let it dry. Place the tissue paper wings inside the clothes pin and position the toilet paper role on top so it sits in the middle for the body of the butterfly. Decorate the wings with paint and glue on googly eyes.
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Butterfly Suncatcher
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Suncatchers can be great crafts that will brighten up your windows during the spring. Paint six clothes pins with black paint. Cut six circles out of pieces of colored tissue paper. Cut out three large circles and three small circles. Fold the tissue paper up like an accordion. Place the tissue paper in the center of the black clothes pin when it is dry and place a pipe cleaner in the top groove. Fold the pipe cleaner in half to create antenna. Glue on your goggle eyes. You should have three small butterflies and three big ones. Cut three pieces of yarn. Make one piece longer than the other two. Tie them to a long wooden stick with the longer piece in the middle. Tie your small butterflies half way up the string by making a looped knot around the clothespin. The butterflies on the ends should be even. The butterfly in the middle can be lower. Then tie the larger butterflies to the ends of the string using the same method. Your tissue butterflies should hang from the stick so that they almost look like they are flying on their own. Hang the suncatcher in the window so the light can catch the tissue paper butterflies and reflect spots of color around your room.
Craft a Butterfly and Chrysalis
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During metamorphosis a caterpillar will create a chrysalis to transform into a butterfly. What better way to teach a child about the process than to create one? Fold a piece of tissue paper up like an accordion. Place the tissue paper evenly in a wooden clothes pin so both sides are equal. Add eyes using a marker. Set the butterfly aside. Spread glue all over a toilet paper roll. Cover the roll in yarn. Wrap the yarn around the roll tightly. Make sure you cover one end of the roll and leave the other end open for the butterfly to pop out of.
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References
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