Our free build a butterfly printable craft is perfect for spring and summer activities and is a fun cut and paste craft that’s great for supporting scissor skills as well a great way to learn about symmetry too.
There are two pages to download and you can design your own butterfly by choosing your favorite colored markers or pencils to color with and then pick from our large collection of different shapes to cut out and stick onto the wings for a craft that’s totally individual.
What You'll Find on This Page
Build a Butterfly Craft
Butterflies are something that I think are almost universally loved, there’s both something magical about their transformation from caterpillars and also in the gorgeous creatures that they become. If you’ve ever taken your children to a butterfly farm then you’ll know how popular they are with both kids and adults.
This easy cut out craft is a great way for kids to practice coloring skills and using scissors as well as being great for promoting creativity.
Apart from the PDF file itself this craft requires only very basic materials and chances are that you already have these supplies at home or in your classroom.
With this printable you will find two pages to download.
The first page contains the butterfly itself and some shapes that you can cut out to stick onto the butterfly wings however if you feel like going a bit extra or having a few more options then print out the second page too which has loads more shapes that you can add to your design.
This is a great craft for learning about symmetry and will look great displayed at home or on a spring or summer themed bulletin board.
This butterfly cut and paste activity works especially well for kids in preschool, kindergarten and early years classrooms as it can help kids explore symmetry while supporting their fine motor skills and encouraging their creativity.
If you like this activity you might also like our free cut and paste crafts with loads more ideas for every season.
Craft Supplies Needed
- White paper or cardstock
- Glue (glue stick or school glue / PVA glue)
- Scissors
- Coloring materials – coloring pencils, markers or crayons
Cut And Paste Butterfly Craft
Start by printing your PDF template on to white paper. If your child is going to want to play with their butterfly afterwards then you might want to opt for white cardstock instead to make it a bit more sturdy and long lasting but generally normal white printer paper is fine.
You only need to print out the second page if you want to use this as well but personally I like the option of having more things to choose from to decorate your butterfly.
Color in all the parts of your butterfly and all the pieces that you will be using for decorations. You don’t need to color in any parts that you won’t be using.
Following the dotted lines, cut out all the parts of your butterfly.
Turn the main body of your butterfly over and then glue on the wings with one on either side.
Glue the butterfly’s antennae onto the back of its head and then flip the paper butterfly back over so that you can decorate the butterfly wings. Make sure that you try to keep your decorations symmetrical!
Adaptation Ideas
This is a really easy butterfly craft to make but it’s also a really easy one to adapt if you would like to, depending on your child’s interests and what you have available at home.
You could swap the paper antennae for pipe cleaners or you could draw your own design onto the butterflies wings rather than using the shapes we’ve provided.
You could scrunch up some colored tissue paper and glue these on to your butterfly, add some glitter or for an activity that helps support fine motor skills you could decorate the wings using stickers.
More Butterfly Activities for Kids
We share loads of free printable crafts and activities and these butterfly activity sheets are always really popular.
There are nine pages that you can download including a color by number, butterfly life cycle and a butterfly trace the lines drawing.
I love using our printables in all sorts of different ways and here we used our butterfly template to make a butterfly nature craft.
It’s a great excuse to get outside and a fun way for little kids to get involved too.
I made this butterfly suncatcher craft with my kids and we had so much fun making them!
Although they do take a little preparation (and lets be honest, most things do) this beautiful butterfly craft was something both my kids could join in with and they stayed displayed in their windows for ages.
How To Download Your Free Build A Butterfly Craft
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Butterfly Craft
Equipment
- Build a butterfly PDF
- White paper or cardstock
- Coloring pencils, colored markers or crayons
- Scissors
- Glue
Instructions
- Print one or both pages of the PDF file onto white paper or cardstock.
- Color in the butterfly's body and wings and any decorations you will be using.
- Cut out all the parts of your butterfly craft.
- Stick the butterfly's wings onto the back of their body.
- Glue the antennae onto the back of the butterfly's head and stick the decorations onto their wings.
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