Monarch Butterfly Craft For Kids

I hope you like butterflies as much as we do! This butterfly craft was inspired by our first monarch butterfly sighting ( or at least we think it was a monarch). When my daughter and I were digging through our craft cabinets for inspiration we saw the party streamers saved from Halloween and this is what we made. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out or if the streamers would stay in the clothes peg. We made these a week ago and they have stayed in place perfectly.

Gather your materials. You will need some wooden pegs like these from craftprojectideas.com , party streamers in orange, yellow, white, and black, markers, scissors, and pipe cleaners.

Start by cutting your streamers. If your child is interested you can have them make a pattern.

Next color your peg with markers. My daughter loved this and colored both of ours at the same time. We used smelly markers and in the split second that I was putting the camera back down she stuck both the markers up her nose. Can’t really blame her, they smell so good! Guess we will need to get new markers.

Time to put the party streamers into the pegs. These pegs have a slit and the paper can be carefully slid into it and then scrunched. Great concentration exercise!

Next time for some pipe cleaner antennae. Pink was a must. 

What I love about this butterfly craft is that there is no drying time. No paint and no glue means no wait needed to send it home or play with it!

 

Books About Butterflies

Extend or introduce this activity with a story or two about butterflies. All our book lists include affiliate links.

From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heligiman is part of my favorite nonfiction for kids series “Let’s Read and Find Out Science”.  I always grab these books at garage sales and thrift stores. In this edition you follow a classroom of students observing a caterpillar as it metamorphosis into a butterfly. A classic spring activity for preschool age children to discover and learn about life cycles. Also a perfect match for your own Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden which I highly recommend and will be doing this year with my son. Reading nonfiction with your preschoolers is important as it teaches them seamlessly that writing and reading are not just for stories but for information too.

Butterfly Butterfly: A Book of Colors by Petr Horaeck is such a wonderful book! I love the simple text and engaging story about a little girl who is trying to find the butterfly that she saw the day before. In her attempts she finds many other colorful bugs in her garden. At the end of the book is a beautiful pop up butterfly that will delight your little readers. I read this to a class of 2 and 3 year olds who were glued to every page and both my kids who are 3 and 7 loved it as well.  Great book!