DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Fingerpaint Butterfly Craft

Fingerpaint Butterfly I discovered this adorable craft at a childrens play group in the park. It was a butterfly theme that week because the wildflowers were in bloom and the butterflies were fluttering around and collecting nectar.

This is a really simple craft that turns out beautifully. It is great for children of all ages or adults that want to get back to their youth and enjoy some fingerpainting! Just make sure to put some paper towel or newspaper on your workspace because it can get awfully messy... *grin*

You can get as creative as you want with the shape and size of your butterfly (you could use a normal piece of paper cut in half like me or a large piece of poster paper for a giant butterly!).

Explore all of different colours you can use; older children might like to use all primary or all secondary colours. I love the way that folding the paper in half to create the butterfly makes the paint blend and smear together.

Materials:

paper (any color),
washable paint,

Instructions:

Fold you piece of paper in half (hamburger-style) and unfold again so there is a crease down the centre of the page.
On one half of the paper paint the wing of your butterfly using your finger. (Fingerpainting is lots of fun but if you would rather not get messy, you can use a paintbrush as well.) Make sure to put lots of paint on so that it will transfer nicely to the other side.
Now fold the paper in half and press down firmly so that the paint transfers to the other side.
When you unfold the paper it the paint should be on both sides and the colours should blend together nicely. Let the butterfly wings dry.
Once dry paint the body of the butterfly (COOL FACT: the body of the butterfly has three parts, the head, thorax and abdomen) down the centre of the paper.
You can try all sorts of butterfly shapes and older kids can try using different shades of a colour to practice mixing paint.
Try modelling your butterfly after a real butterfly species (like the monarch butterfly) to make a sort of abstract painting.

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