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Today I have a fun little Butterfly craft or science activity to go along with one of my favorite books, A Butterfly is Patient written by Dianna Aston and Illustrated by Long.
If you haven’t read this book yet, I highly recommend it! We love it, as well as the other books in the series. They are beautiful, and educational.
This cute little butterfly craft actually moves and flaps its wings! Kids adore making these and they go great with an insect unit or butterfly lesson. These are easy to make and will only need a small amount of guidance taping on the straws.
How to Make the Flapping Butterfly Craft
Supplies:
You will need a print-out of my Flapping Butterfly Craft Template, some scissors and tape and two plastic straws with different diameters. One needs to fit inside of the other one. I used regular straws and smoothie straws. It can be done with paper straws, too if you can find them in two widths.
Print, color and cut the butterfly. Cut a small slit in the middle of the butterfly.
Cut a slit in the skinnier straw- about an inch long. Slide it through the cut in the bat and bend outward. Tape to secure on the front.
Cut the bigger straw down a bit smaller. I cut off about 1/3 of the straw. Then cut a slit in it about half way up the straw.
Slide it over the top of the smaller straw and bend out the cut sections. Tape at the ends only to secure.
Your butterfly is ready to go now. Slide the larger straw back and forth to flap the wings!
My kids had lots of fun with the flapping butterflies! My daughter colored and helped me with this one and she loves playing with it!
Download the Butterfly Template.
We also made some Flapping Bats for Halloween. Check them out!
This is part of the Nature Book Club series. Each month myself and a group of bloggers will bring you nature related activities to do with your kids or students. This month’s theme is Pollinators and I chose the butterfly! Join our Nature Book Club Facebook group for more nature study ideas!
Pollinator Observation from Thaleia at Something 2 Offer
The Bee Tree Notebooking Pages from Jenny at Faith & Good Works
Little Bea Online Book Club from Dachelle at Hide The Chocolate
Visit with an Apiculturalist from Eva at Eva Varga
All About Honey Bee Unit Study Resources from Jenny at Homeschool Educational Free Market
Cassie | Foster to Adopt says
This is such a COOL idea! We have been trying to find some more butterfly craft ideas to do with the kids. My daughters both love butterflies. Thank you for sharing this. We can’t wait to make it. 🙂