My little man lovvvved this project. It was pretty simple and doesn't make too big of a mess. I like multi-step projects like this every once in a while because it really teaches Eli to work on his patience while exploring an new medium. These coffee filter butterflies can be made with things you have on hand and are really cute hanging on the fridge!
Materials:
- Coffee filters
- Washable watercolors
- Pipe cleaners
- Glue gun
- Magnet sticker strips
- Old plate/tupperware
- Paintbrush
- Paper bag
- Tongue depressors
I always loved a technique similar to this when I worked as a preschool assistant so I just tweeked it a little bit so we could do it at home. Start by finding an old plate or tupperware container you don't mind getting paint on...it will wash off in the end so I just used a normal plate we had in the cabinet. Grab the coffee filters, too. You need 1-2 filters for each butterfly so grab accordingly. Flatten the coffee filter onto the plate and have your watercolors ready.
Let your child paint the coffee filter with the watercolors. The filter will get soaked in paint and at some point you have to stop your child and give them a new filter. Put the wet coffee filters on a paper bag to dry, I find the paper bag soaks up the excess water the best and doesn't stick to the wet filter...you could also use paper towels.
If you want to make a butterfly
without magnets, fold a pipe cleaner in half, gather the filter in the middle, and wrap the pipe cleaner around the middle. This is the butterfly's antenna.
If you want to make a butterfly that will go on the fridge, gather two filters and hot glue the centers to a tongue depressor. These are the butterfly's wings, put them close together or far apart...where ever you child thinks looks best :) We did a few of both.
Now bend a pipe cleaner in half leaving a small loop at the bottom to attach to the tongue depressor. This is the antenna. Attach the antenna to the topside of the tongue depressor with your hot glue gun, on the same side you previously glued on.
Once the glue on the wings and antenna is dry,
cut two, one inch strips from a magnet sticker strip. Peel the backing off of the magnets and apply glue to the areas on top of both wings. (see pictures.) Place the magnet pieces on top of glue and allow it to completely dry.
All you have to do now is stick them to the fridge, or make more! We made extras while we had all of the supplies out because I plan on using them as gift toppers! Cute, right?!
If you really want to get into it, check out my
egg carton caterpillar to explain to your kids how a butterfly is born! Or, make a
packing peanut painting of a caterpillar!
Try to encourage them to glue 'inside the lines' and talk to them about why they are putting the pieces where they are. "Are you gluing the eyes? Good Job! Where is that green piece going? Oh cool...the tentacles!" Kids are more likely to get into something if they see that you are enjoying it, too. Enjoy this time when they will sit down and communicate with you because I am told that will not last long :)
Let your child spray the shaving cream on to the cookie sheet. Then, allow him to squeeze several dots of watercolors on top of the shaving cream. Push the fish bowl down about half way into the shaving cream/food coloring mixture.
Now you can decorate your fishbowl with your fish stickers! I found this was the best time to talk to Eli about different types of fish, where they live and what they eat, etc. (as well as remind him that the Dr. had an awesome tank that we got to see at every check-up!) He also enjoyed counting the total number of fish in his bowl and naming their colors. I used some cute (free) printouts to teach him the actual fish parts and their actual names. My biggest pet peeve is when parents dumb things down for their toddlers...you'd be surprised at what they can learn if you just explain things to them!
I always loved a technique similar to this when I worked as a preschool assistant so I just tweeked it a little bit so we could do it at home. Start by finding an old plate or tupperware container you don't mind getting paint on...it will wash off in the end so I just used a normal plate we had in the cabinet. Grab the coffee filters, too. You need 1-2 filters for each butterfly so grab accordingly. Flatten the coffee filter onto the plate and have your watercolors ready.
Let your child paint the coffee filter with the watercolors. The filter will get soaked in paint and at some point you have to stop your child and give them a new filter. Put the wet coffee filters on a paper bag to dry, I find the paper bag soaks up the excess water the best and doesn't stick to the wet filter...you could also use paper towels.
If you want to make a butterfly that will go on the fridge, gather two filters and hot glue the centers to a tongue depressor. These are the butterfly's wings, put them close together or far apart...where ever you child thinks looks best :) We did a few of both.
Now bend a pipe cleaner in half leaving a small loop at the bottom to attach to the tongue depressor. This is the antenna. Attach the antenna to the topside of the tongue depressor with your hot glue gun, on the same side you previously glued on.
Think out of the box. Who cares if you mess up, it's going to wash away in the next few days! Think about drawing scenes, or repetitive patterns. If you have any kid of brick near your home you've hit the jackpot. Color each brick one color. Then another on top of that, then another, and another until you have a beautiful rainbow of colors that is so much fun to look at! (And much more interesting than those basic rainbows you learned to draw in first grade.) You can turn it into a game by asking each child to hop onto a certain color, or count the number of 'blue' bricks.
