This beautiful butterfly silhouette art project is really fun and easy to do. Toddlers, preschoolers and big kids will love this 3-in-1 art activity. Hang your butterflies in a window or on a bulletin board in the classroom to welcome Spring!
We love making silhouette art. Remember the gorgeous butterfly symmetry craft that the hooligans made the other day? Well, we made these butterfly silhouettes from the leftovers of that craft.
Another terrific butterfly craft to add to our collection, and another letter B craft in our epic A-Z Paper Plate Crafts collection!
The first activity we did was the symmetry painting, (or butterfly painting as some people call it). It’s when you drizzle paint onto a piece of paper (we used a paper plate), and then fold the paper in half to make symmetrical art.
I had planned to have the activity end there, but the symmetrical art was so beautiful we decided to use that colourful art work to make these beautiful butterflies.
You may also like our: Vibrant Clay Dough Butterflies
When we had cut all of our butterflies out, and the leftover paper plates were strewn about the dining room table, I couldn’t help but notice that each plate held the perfect silhouette of a butterfly.
They were really pretty because the shape of each butterfly was outlined by the paint that the girls had used for the symmetry painting step of the project.
We couldn’t let those beautiful silhouettes go to waste, so we taped the cut ends of the paper plate together, and glued black stock paper behind the plate to make this butterfly silhouette art!
Now we have even more beautiful butterflies to display!
Our simple paper plate symmetry painting activity turned into 3 separate crafts/activities:
3 Activities in one!
- a creative painting activity
- a shaped craft
- a silhouette craft
To make our butterfly silhouette art, you’ll need:
- paper plates
- craft paint
- paintbrushes
- scissors
- pencil
- a butterfly template to trace (grab my free printable template here)
Here’s a shot of some of the original butterflies we made with their matching silhouettes below them.
We’ll definitely be putting extending any future symmetry painting we do this way!
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
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