Insect Unit- Butterfly Craft!

This past week during our insect unit our focus was on butterflies. We learned all about butterflies including their life cycle and names of different butterflies. Did you know that when a caterpillar hatches from the egg it eats the egg? We made a really cute butterfly craft this week using coffee filters, pipe cleaners and old markers and water.


First we gathered up our old, dried out markers. We dipped the markers in water and used them to color our coffee filters.

Many of the students did polka dots all over their coffee filter so that the colors would mix together. The only requirement was that they could not leave any white left on their coffee filter. 

Some of the colors mixed together on their own while some areas we sprayed with a squirt bottle to help the colors mix together. 

Once the coffee filters were completely dry then we transformed them into butterflies. We pinched the middle of the coffee filter together and then twisted half of a coffee filter around it and then used the ends of the pipe cleaner to make the butterfly's antenna. 

Here are a few of our finished butterflies:

You can use a Sharpie to write the students' names on their butterfly (the color will not bleed and mix with the colors on the coffee filter). The students loved making the butterflies and many made more than one because they wanted to do different color combinations. They are great to use to make a beautiful, colorful bulletin board.

I'm linking this craft project up with 4th Grade Frolics Monday Made It! My goal this summer is to join this linky party at least every other (if not every) week.