Painted Butterflies

I have to admit...I didn't come up with this project on my own. My son did something similar at preschool; and I loved it so much I wanted to replicate it at home. You can show your kids how the patterns on butterfly wings are a mirror-image of one another with this easy art project.

Here's what you'll need: plain white paper, paints (any kind), pencil, eyedroppers or paint brushes, a butterfly template (I have one you can download if you don't want to draw your own), and a pair of scissors.

Fold the white paper in half, line the straight edge of the butterfly up on the folded line, trace around it and cut it out. Unfold and you've got a whole butterfly. (I've got more pictures of the step-by-step over on my blog today, if you want to stop in).

Now comes the fun part: let the kids paint any pattern on their butterflies. For the older kids, have them paint only half of the butterfly. I put the butterflies on paper plates to help contain the mess.

When they're done with the painting, fold the butterfly in half...making a painty, squishy sandwich. Unfold and see how the pattern "copied" over to the blank half. I should say that the paint we used probably wasn't ideal...it dried too quickly, so the pattern didn't look exactly the same on both sides. But you get the idea.

I think we're going to make a whole bunch more and hang them up like we do our paper snowflakes in the winter. I'll be back soon with more ways you can keep your kids busy now that school is drawing to a close. Until then, have fun!