Our daughter Grace is 3 years old and still at home with me. She’ll be headed to preK in the fall, so we’ve been working on some preschool readiness activities. She is eager to learn and I’m thrilled to help her along!
One of the things we’ll be focusing on these next few months is letter recognition and sounds. We made this fun and easy craft after we had focused on the letter “B”. While our girl loves anything that interests her older brothers—including trucks, cars and Pokemon—she is very much a girly girl and adores butterflies!
SUPPLIES
Clear contact paper
Tissue paper, cut into small squares
Scissors
Black construction paper
DIRECTIONS
Cut a B shape from the black construction paper. I did this one free hand (and added a little head with antennas), but you could print one out if that’s easier. I prepped the tissue paper by cutting several colors into small squares. You could have your child tear off pieces.
Next cut two similarly sized pieces of contact paper, large enough to complete surround the B. Remove the backing from the first piece and secure it to your table with tape, making sure the sticky side is up.
Place your butterfly B onto the sticky contact paper–backwards. Putting it backwards will ensure that when you flip it right side up, the tissue paper won’t show past the black edges.
Have your child fill in the butterfly wings with the tissue paper pieces. This is a great opportunity for counting pieces, sorting colors or creating patterns.
Remove the paper backing from your second piece of contact paper and apply that to the piece on the table. This will essentially laminate your project, allowing you to cut out your butterfly B shape. Once it’s been cut out, tape that beautiful butterfly B to your window and watch the light pour through!
Posted by Mandy Bopp, of Phoenix, a professional musician and the mother of three children. She also blogs at almondplace.com.
