Cardboard Roll Butterflies

I found this easy project on the patchwork parent blog. For little kids I recommend putting primary colored paint close to each other on a paper plate so they can play with mixing the primary colors to make secondary colors when making these butterflies. Older children can decorate the tubes with paint and markers in a more detailed fashion. I also recommend borrowing children’s books about butterflies from the library to correspond with this fun crafts project like the ones I listed below.

You Will Need:

Toilet Paper Cardboard Tubes
Washable Paint
Scissors
Pencil
Chenille Stems

What to Do:

1. Have the kids paint the outside of the cardboard tubes.

2. After the paint dries, flatten the tubes with your hand and press along the creases, so it’s easier to draw on.

3. Draw wings on cardboard tube as seen in photo. Cut out the wings. Trace the wings on the other cardboard tubes.

4. Put the butterflies under a heavy book to flatten.

5. Fold chenille stems in half. Hook it around the middle of the butterfly. Twist the two pieces together to make a head.

6. Put the tips of stems around a pencil to make them twirl a little.

Read some of these books about butterflies with the children too: Waiting for Wings, Gotta Go! Gotta Go!,A Butterfly Is Patient, The Butterfly Alphabet Book, and Hurry and the Monarch.