Just how adorable are these paper plate butterflies? I love how adaptable it is and you could use it with many activities, such as butterfly life cycle lessons or even as a Kadinsky-inspired process art craft. I do love a simple kids craft that is cute.
It is so fun to raise butterflies from chrysalis to ready-to-fly with this butterfly kit, it’s so exciting to watch the transformation up close! We tried to make sure we have a butterfly and insect-friendly garden and we loved drawing and painting all kinds of butterflies no matter what the weather – I mean take a look at our butterfly rain art.
How to make a Paper Plate Butterfly
Supplies:
- Large paper plates (non-coated, honestly the cheapies are perfect)
- Bubble tea straws or large popsicle stick
- Watercolor paints
- Paintbrush
- Stapler
- Hot glue gun or glue dots
- Permanent markers or Sharpie
- Scissors
No products found.
Instructions:
There is something magical about giving kids a paper plate as a blank canvas and some paints. I love seeing what they come up with without any input from me. Process art is so important for everyone and this is a great craft that can combine both process art and an end product piece of craft.
So the plate will be cut to produce the butterfly wings and when I look at a circle, I always see Kadinskys circles in squares! I love a Kandinsky craft.
Paint a paper plate using the colors of your choice. Set aside to dry.
Once the paper plate is dry, fold it in half to create a crease then cut it in half.
Overlap the two half-moons and cut a “V” out. giving the wings dimension.
Place the “V” on the outside and overlap the rounded side of the plate to make the wings. Secure them by using 1-2 staples.
Cut a bubble straw down to the size of the middle of the butterfly. At the top of the bubble straw cut a small “v” which is great for fine motor skills.
Carefully add a line of hot glue over the staples where the bubble tea straw body will lay. Hold it there for a few seconds to make sure it is secure. Alternatively, if you have younger kids such as preschoolers and can’t offer the supervision needed for a glue gun, glue dots are great for this as they adhere immediately. You could also use a mega craft stick or popsicle stick as the body of the butterfly like Jean at The Artful Parent.
Add a face to your butterfly using a permanent marker like a Sharpie.
And then keep making more!
Just imagine a wall in a classroom filled with all of these unique butterflies. They would be great with these paper plate caterpillars from backyard camp perfect for a lesson on the different stages of the butterfly life cycle and the metamorphosis.
Adaptations
This beautiful paper plate butterfly craft can be adapted for kids of all ages.
- You could also add antennas using pipe cleaners with older kids.
- You could add stickers to the wings and self-adhesive googly eyes when working with younger children such as toddlers.
