Butterfly Gardens

Last weekend several families joined us in The Studio for the family workshop “Butterflies and Caterpillars,” where we made a series of fun spring-themed projects. One activity that was a big hit with kids and parents was working together to make a paper butterfly garden. We provided an array of colorful paste papers, stamped construction papers, and other fun accessories like pom poms and sequins to turn into beautiful flowers, leaves and butterflies.

We provided templates of different butterfly and flower shapes to help get everyone started, but they were also encouraged to try using their own shapes to make their gardens unique.

It was so much fun to see parents and children designing and creating side by side.

No two gardens looked exactly the same!

To prepare the gardens we cut out several tree stump shapes (imperfect ovals) from cardboard boxes and glued them together into stacks of 4. I recommend rubber banding the individual stacks until completely dry to prevent the cardboard from curled up on the edges.

Once the stacks were dry (overnight), I used tempera paints to paint the sides brown and the tops pale yellow. I left a gap around the top of the stump to add detail later.

Using a wooden skewer, I etched imperfect circles in the wet paint to look like the tree growth rings.

Then, I filled in the top border of the stump with a dry brush and light brown tempera to look like the bark. This layer can be imperfect and overlap the yellow a little to look more natural. When the stumps were dry we used a heavy duty stapler to attach a few wires and chenille stems to the center of the stump. We put a spot of glue under the wires so the staple wouldn’t pull out of the cardboard.

Why not make butterfly gardens at your next spring celebration!

Making Art with Children is generously sponsored by the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority.