Kid's Activity: Let's Make Tissue Butterflies

by Melissa Jaramillo and Julie Snyder

Every spring, butterflies emerge and dazzle. They are beautiful, flying insects with large scaly wings. Everyone know that, right? Here are some butterfly facts you may not know:

• Butterflies can only fly if their body temperature is above 86 degrees so they sun themselves to warm up in cool weather.
• Flying speed differs among butterflies. The poisonous varieties are more leisurely; non-poisonous varieties are faster. The quickest is the skipper, clocking in at 30 MPH.
• Butterflies can only sip liquid foods -- most prefer nectar and a few eat the juice from rotting fruit.
• There are about 28,000 varieties of butterflies.
• While many species migrate, the Monarch travels thousands of miles a year.
• Butterfly fossils are rare!

Since it's a little too early in the year for most of us to enjoy watching butterflies in their natural setting, let's make some from clothespins and tissue paper. Build a bunch and fly through the living room!

Materials:
• Old fashioned (slot type) clothespins
• 12" squares of tissue paper in a variety of colors
• Colored pipe cleaners or silk flower centers for antennae
• Paint and brushes
• Markers
• String

Procedure
Give your child the opportunity to paint the clothespin body black or a bright color. Allow to dry. Then draw eyes in place. Ask her to choose a piece of tissue paper for the wings. Fold the paper in half and scrunch it into the groove in the clothespin. Have her pick a pipe cleaner. Wrap around the butterfly's "neck." Form the ends into antennae. Tie your butterfly to a string and hang from a window.

Optional ideas: • Substitute coffee filters for tissue paper. Draw designs with markers and spray lightly with water to blur and blend colors. When dry, assemble as above.

• Drip food coloring onto a white paper towel. Spray lightly with water to form pattern. Dry and assemble as above.

• Use regular clip clothespins, glue a magnet strip on the back and hang on the fridge.

• Glue pom poms on a clothespin to make a caterpillar.

Recommended books:
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Where Butterflies Grow
• From Caterpillar to Butterfly
• Monarch Butterfly
• The Butterfly House
• Waiting for Wings
• I Wish I Were a Butterfly

Julie Snyder is a mom of six, interested in kids, pregnancy, birth, people and lives in the outlying Seattle area. Melissa Jaramillo is mom to many. She's passionate about building, encouraging, and strengthening families on this adventure known as parenthood!

Copyright © Melissa Jaramillo and Julie Snyder. Permission to republish granted to Pregnancy.org, LLC.