Beautiful butterfly fold-overs

A neat way to explore symmetry with your preschool students!

Our children love to create fold-over paintings.   So it was no surprise that they all really enjoyed making these beautiful butterfly fold-overs to decorate our classroom…

Beginning the Process

To begin creating their butterflies, the children folded a plain piece of paper in half …

Next, the children took a pair of scissors and snipped off the corners of their folded paper…

While the paper was still folded, the children then snipped 1, 2, 3, 4 small slits down the folded side of their paper.  For some children, we drew small lines on their paper as a guide.  These small slits will be used to hold our butterflies’ antennae…

Painting their Butterfly

Once the cutting was complete, the children were ready to paint their butterflies.   The children unfolded their paper and spread it out in front of them.  Then they selected their paint and spooned it on to one side of their paper…

When they had their paint just as they wanted it, the children were ready to fold their papers again.  Once their papers were folded over, the children gently rubbed their hands over the top to evenly distribute the paint…

Exploring Symmetry

Then they were ready for the big reveal…

Adding Details

Some children added more paint and repeated the fold over process.  Those that were satisfied with their butterfly’s colors, went on to add their antennae.  For the antennae, the children taped together two bendy straws…

The last step was to weave the straw antennae through the slits that they made in their paper at the beginning of the activity.  For some children, this step proved to be a bit challenging, partly because the paint was still wet, so we offered our assistance as necessary…

This was just one of many different ways we explored butterflies in our classroom. This particular process required some guidance as it included the challenge of folding, snipping, and weaving. We had to look for the “folded” edge and the “corners” of our paper but our students were ready for this type of challenge and did a remarkable job…

Displaying their Creations

When the children were finished, we had beautifully painted fold-over butterflies decorating our classroom windows in preparation for our up and coming Mother’s Day Tea Party…

Available on Amazon

 

Links to grow on:

Fantastic foil fold-over painting by Teach Preschool

Butterfly sensory bags for preschoolers by Teach Preschool

Tissue paper caterpillars by Teach Preschool

Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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