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Completed paper butterfly craft colored with black and neon sharpie makers resting near a black pair of scissors and neon sharpie markers.
Print Recipe

DIY Paper Butterfly Craft- Free Template and with Moving Wings

The coolest DIY Paper Butterfly Craft uses straws to make the wings flap and move. Free template makes it a fast and easy craft for kids.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Art Project
Cuisine: Art Project
Keyword: Butterfly craft, Butterfly Craft Ideas, Butterfly Paper Cut Out, DIY Paper Butterfly Craft
Servings: 1
Author: Shelly
Cost: $1

Equipment

  • Scissors
  • Stapler
  • Hole punch

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Print the free DIY Paper Butterfly Craft Template out on cardstock or 90 lb. paper
  • Decorate the butterfly wings with colored markers, colored pencils, or crayons. Add BLING (like stick on gems) or glitter if you want
  • cut out the butterfly on the solid outside line.
  • Fold the wings in half on the center dotted line, with the printed words in the middle. Then fold the wings back on the outside dotted lines.
  • Staple the body together on the folds underneath the wings.
  • Using a hole punch, punch a hole in the butterfly towards the head. Pull a pipe cleaner through the hole and twist the two ends together, clip to length desired for the antenna.
  • Using some scissors, cut, and split the larger drinking straw in half lengthwise for about 4 inches down from one end. Cut the straw off about 2 ½ inches shorter than the small straw (on the end that is not split).
  • Then cut and split the smaller drinking straw lengthwise for about 1 to 1 ½ inches down from one end.
  • Open the split in the small straw, slide it over the body of the butterfly on the underside of the butterfly. Tape this in place using packing tape, placing tape over the end of the straw on each side of the butterfly body.
  • Then slide the larger drinking straw over the smaller straw with the split ends towards the butterfly.
    Tape one end of the split straw to the underside of one of the butterfly wings at least halfway across the wings (not right next to the body). Do the same thing on the other wing as well. Again, use packing tape.
  • To make the butterfly wings “flap”, just hold the smaller straw in one hand and the larger in the other. Slide the larger straw up and down over the smaller one. The wings go up and down and “flap”, you have a butterfly with moving wings!

Video