If you love planning butterfly activities for preschoolers and kindergarten kids, this shape butterfly craft is a must-try. You don’t need many materials, and it’s very easy to prep.
Explore shapes, colors, and the concept of symmetry with the butterfly shape craft. It can be adjusted based on your preferences, as well as the needs and ages of your students. The kids can also choose their color scheme for a bit of added personalization.
While this craft is super simple, you can always change it up to add to the learning and fun!
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While the butterfly craft is perfect for a preschool butterfly theme, it will fit well during themes like spring, pollinators, and flowers. Perhaps your students just love butterflies. The butterfly shapes craft can be done any time of year, just because!
Shape Butterfly Craft
Follow along below to get full instructions and tips for the butterfly shape craft. Remember: you don’t have to do things the exact same way we did. This tutorial might just serve as inspiration for a new craft to do with students. Either way, there will be lots of hands-on fun. And that’s the best way to keep the kids engaged in the learning process!
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How to Prep the Butterfly Shape Craft
The prep work for the butterfly craft is simple. Start by gathering all of the necessary materials. Don’t worry – this supply list is super short! And, as a teacher, you likely have everything you need on-hand. Here’s what you’ll need (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
- Construction paper
- White cardstock or copy paper
- Adult scissors
- Kids scissors
- Liquid glue
- Glue sticks
Yep! That’s it! Just a few basic supplies and you’re ready to get started.
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Preschool students often come to school with all different abilities and skill sets. Some students might be able to cut things all on their own. Others may be able to cut straight lines, but need help with various shapes. Some might have trouble working bi-laterally, using one hand to guide the paper and the other to control the scissors. Still more may have never practiced with scissors.
With this in mind, you might want to take the prep work a step further than just gathering supplies. Go ahead and cut out the shapes ahead of time. This will help students who aren’t yet able to cut independently. Such students can either use all pre-cut shapes or practice cutting a few of their own and supplement with the pre-cut shapes to finish out their project.
Shape Butterfly Craft Directions
Now that you’ve gathered the supplies, it’s time for the best part. Let the kids create their butterfly shape creations! Here’s what to do:
Start by preparing the paper shapes. First, let the kids decide on the color scheme and give them corresponding construction paper. Then have the kids fold the paper in half. That way, they can cut two sets of each shape. Some kids might even need the shapes cut out for them. And that’s perfectly fine!
Here are the shapes we used:
- Two large hearts
- Two triangles
- Five circles
- Six squares
- Two small, narrow rectangles
- One long, narrow oval
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These are just the shapes we ended up using. You can change this up as you see fit. As students navigate this simple craft, have a quick chat about the different shapes. Consider playing a shape song before getting started to amp up the enthusiasm.
Now that all of the shapes are ready, it’s time to assemble the shape butterfly craft. First, glue down the large hearts to represent the wings. Place the hearts on their sides, facing opposite directions, so that the pointed ends of each meet at the middle of the page.
Next, add the long oval with a circle above it to represent the body and head of the butterfly. The small rectangles make the perfect antennas jutting out from the circle head.
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Finally, let students glue the shapes to the wings as they see fit. Encourage students to make the wings symmetrical, mirror images of one another. This will take some critical thinking and planning, adding an extra layer of learning to the activity.
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See? Super simple! Sometimes, the simple, tried-and-true activities end up being the most impactful!
Additional Ideas for the Butterfly Craft
The shape butterfly craft is super simple. Students will likely get it done pretty quickly. But there are some ways to expand the craft by adding a few extra steps to the process. Here is an idea for extending the activity, which adds new learning concepts and an extra day of fun:
- On the first day, students will prepare the shapes. Start by having students cut the necessary shapes out of white paper. Or you cut them out ahead of time so they are ready to go.
- Next, students will liberally apply paint to the shapes, using a different color for each half of a matching pair.
- Finally, have students sandwich the matching shapes together. Peel the shapes apart to reveal the new color. For instance, students will paint one heart yellow and another red. Then reveal two orange hearts after sandwiching them together and peeling them apart.
- Lay the shapes out to dry overnight.
- On the second day, follow the steps above to assemble the butterfly.
How do you plan on implementing the shape butterfly craft with your class? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
More Shape Activities for Kids
If you’re trying to include more lessons on shapes, I’ve got you covered:
- Dental Shape Mats
- Shape Sorting Sensory Invitation to Play
- Preschool Shape Activities
- Learning Shapes and Colors with Rainbow Rocks
- Shape Houses
- Easter Shape Matching
- I Have, Who Has Shape Games
- Leaf Shape Mats
There are so many creative ways to teach about shapes in preschool and kindergarten!
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