Do you want to make something a bit different than the usual life cycle kids normally do on paper? You can use this idea not only to show the butterfly life cycle but also as a cute gift for granny or mother’s day. (Instead of making the eggs, caterpillars and chrysalis, add few pretty flowers on paper.)
You will need:
- Binding wire and pliers
- Green felt
- Brown T-shirt material or any fabric with a bit of stretch
- Pom Poms
- Butterflies
- Googly eyes
- Pipe cleaners
- Flower pot
- Sand and a few pebbles
- Glue
What to do:
Unroll some of the wire to make lengths of about 30cm. Do not cut the wire, loop it at the top and bottom. Make six loops at the top and three or four at the bottom. You can cut the wire off the rest of the roll once this is done. Use the last loose piece to wrap around the “trunk” working from bottom to top.
Fold the top six loops in half to form twelve loops for the leaves. Secure to the trunk using a piece of wire. Twist the bottom loops together to form the roots. Use a long strip of T-shirt material and wrap around the roots and trunk. “Plant” your tree in the pot, fill the pot with sand to secure.
Cut twenty-four leaf shapes out of the green felt. Using the wire as a frame, glue two pieces at a time together, to make the top and bottoms of the leaves. Secure with pegs and let dry.
I already had pre-made felt butterflies in my craft bag. If you do not have any, you can cut butterflies out of coloured cardboard or felt. Secure your butterflies to the leaves with a small piece of wire or green pipe cleaner.
Bend a colourfull pipe cleaner in a continious “S” shape to form the bodies of the caterpillars. Use a pom pom and add googly eyes to make a face.
Roll a brown, fluffy pipe cleaner in a cone shape to represent the chrysalis.
You can use small white pom poms for the eggs, I was out of white pom poms but found tapioca in the kitchen cupboard, which worked perfectly.
Add finishing touches to your project with a few pebbles and a ladybug or two.
There you have a cute butterfly lifecycle craft to show off or give as a gift!
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