Foam Shape Butterfly

After the recent visit to the Stratford Butterfly farm I searched some ideas for butterfly craft. I saved the images of the designs I liked and asked Dylan which ones he liked and wanted to make.
He chose the toilet roll butterfly.

The beautiful butterfly we made.

What do you need?

Toilet roll
Card
Paint (optional)
Foam shapes
Double sided tape or PVA glue
Googly eyes or buttons (optional)
Pipe cleaners
Scissors

Firstly we got the toilet roll to measure out how big we needed the strip to cover it to be. Then I cut the strip and placed the double sided tape on the toilet roll vertically. Dylan helped to press down the card until we had covered the roll. Then I added more tape to the card to completely wraped the card around.

The rest of the card from one A4 sheet was used to make the wings. I folded it in half and cut the wings so they were symmetrical. Remember not to make them bigger than the roll if you want it to stand rather than hang. I kept the outline of the wings for another butterfly craft project.

I placed a strip of tape down the middle of the wings and Dylan helped to stick the down.
Whilst I was busy I gave Dylan the task to match the googly eyes and select a pair of equal size/design he liked. Using the tape we stuck them in place.

Next I emptied out the foam shapes and asked him to pick certain shapes and colours. He then had to find the matching pair. Then he needed to place them on the butterfly symmetrically. After he had done this I added tape and he helped put them back in place and attach them.

Finally I used one pipe cleaner, Dylan selected a colour. I trimmed it down and placed tape on the inside of the roll. Dylan folded the pipe cleaner in half and placed it on the roll.

Matching shapes on each wing.

Finding matching shapes

Flying practise

I didn't time the activity but I imagine it took 15 mins. Varies with the resources and child I suppose.
Dylan loved this activity and was really focused for him. This activity is not very messy at all if you used card and tape instead of paint and glue.

Learning ideas

Shape identification
Shape matching (colour/size)
Shape symmetry
Left and right sides
Talk about life cycle of a butterfly ( maybe the roll can be the caterpillar??)
Roleplay action of a butterfly.
Counting shapes/ wings/eyes/antennae
Use of fine motor skills handling shapes
Sorting shapes
Matching googly eyes (shape and design)

Have you done this activity before? If so would love to hear your tips and see your final butterfly.
Any suggestions on improvements or alternatives would be gratefully received.
If your thinking of trying this enjoy!



Date of activity Wednesday 10th April
Dylan 2.4 years