paper crafts

Butterfly Sunflower Papercraft

November 15, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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This butterfly sunflower papercraft is easy to make and is sure to be a parent pleaser. It’s an all-around showy harvest craft. I did it with my preschoolers this fall and sent it home around Canadian Thanksgiving Day. I’ve included a downloadable pattern for the craft in the post.

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Supplies To Collect

Paper supplies needed to make a butterfly-themed sunflower craft.

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8 ½ x 11-inch cardstock paper in various shades of yellow
9 x 12-inch green and yellow fade-resistant construction paper
12 x 18-inch fade-resistant construction paper in shades of blue
brown construction paper
brown tissue paper
butterfly paper punches
white glue
glue stick
scissors

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Making The Butterfly Sunflower Papercraft

Punch butterflies from different shades of yellow cardstock paper.

Cut large circles from yellow construction paper, and smaller ones from sturdy brown paper.

Cut stems and leaves from green construction paper.

Snip brown tissue paper into small squares.

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Here’s a downloaded sunflower pattern:

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Sunflower Pattern DownloadDownload

This printable is for individual and one classroom use only.

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Set up stations with a brown circle, tissue paper squares, and white glue. Have your early learners scrunch tissue paper squares, dip them in glue, and press them onto a brown circle.

Set up to scrunch tissue paper and dip it in glue to add it to a circle.

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Brown scrunched tissue glued on to a circle.

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After the tissue paper circles dry, ask your little ones to stick theirs on the center of a large yellow circle with a glue stick.

Set out a variety of shades and sizes of yellow paper butterflies for gluing all around the brown circle.

A sunflower head with a scrunched tissue center surrounded by paper butterflies.

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Guide each child in gluing a stem and two leaves onto a 12 x 18-inch piece of construction paper, and then adding the yellow and brown circular sunflower head.

Easy to make butterfly sunflower papercraft. The sunflower head has a scrunched tissue center surrounded by paper butterflies.

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Words such as Happy Thanksgiving or Gratitude could be added to the sunflower picture. I chose to leave the craft wordless and tell parents it was a Thanksgiving Day craft.

Thanksgiving Day inspired easy to make butterfly sunflower papercraft. The sunflower head has a scrunched tissue center surrounded by paper butterflies.

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The butterfly sunflower papercraft makes an attractive harvest or “Happy Thanksgiving” bulletin board display.

Happy Thanksgiving bulletin board display with butterfly-themed paper sunflowers.

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Related: Handprint Turkeys

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Valentine’s Day Heart Art

January 21, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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This Valentine’s Day heart art project features an oversized valentine with a very personal touch. Lipstick in “notice me” colors adds to the excitement of making the picture.

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For this post, I purchased low-cost lipstick in as many hues as I could find. If you already have lipstick in a variety of colors, you will save in preparation time.

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Supplies To Collect

lipstick colors in a few different shades
large white circle or heart-shaped doily
foam sticker hearts
adhesive gems
glue stick
sharpie felt pen
two sheets of 12-inch by 12-inch cardstock (in colors that complement each other)

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Lipstick shades used for a Valentine's Day paper craft. Lipstick prints are the highlight of the oversized valentine.

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Making The Valentine’s Day Heart Art Picture

Help your child apply lipstick and make lip prints on the doily. You can suggest a different color for the top and bottom lips for added fun.

Invite your child to decorate the doily picture with foam sticker hearts and adhesive gems.

Write some loving words on the doily, or have your child do so.

Assist your child in gluing the doily heart onto the cardstock square of choice.

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As an alternative, you can use a heart-shaped doily. Have your child make lipstick prints on it and follow the rest of the instructions above.

Or the cardstock with the decorated doily could be cut into a heart shape and then glued onto a complimentary piece of sturdy paper.

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Purple, reds, and pinks are prominent in these arty valentines. Choose materials that go with the lipstick hues you have available. Colors like turquoise and/or gold for lips and complimentary art supplies can be showcased wonderfully in this craft.

To view lipsticks that come in unexpected colors, browse through a post from allure.com. Experimenting with unusual shades or making rainbow lipstick prints will add dramatic flair to this valentine’s keepsake.

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Winter Wreath Paper Plate Craft

January 20, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Winter wreath craft made from a paper plate and recycled cards. A low-cost art project suitable for all ages to do.

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This winter wreath craft made from recycled cards and a paper plate is easy to assemble and displays well. It is gentle on the wallet too.

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Supplies To Collect

winter themed Christmas cards
paper plate
white wired ribbon
glue stick
scissors
glue gun
circle paper punches

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Paper plate winter wreath craft supplies. Circles cut from winter themed Christmas cards are the highlight of the art project.

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Save winter-themed cards from Christmas, and ask family and friends to pass on cards too. Keep an eye out for white ribbon on discount racks after the holidays. Purchase paper plates at a dollar store. If you manage all of the above, you will collect supplies for an economical fee and have leftover cards, plates, and ribbon for other crafts.

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Making The Winter Wreath

Cut or punch various sized circles from cards.

Cut a big circle out of the center of the paper plate.

Snip off a 24-inch piece of ribbon.

Invite your child to glue circles around the edge of the paper plate using a glue stick. An open spot should be left at the bottom or top of the plate for a bow.

Fold the ribbon into a bow. Use a glue gun to attach the bow to the wreath.

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Paper plate winter wreath craft using recycled cards. A low-cost art project suitable for all ages to do.

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The theme for this paper plate winter wreath can be snowmen, snowflakes, or polar animals. The ribbon you select may be patterned, or a different color altogether. The choices are yours!

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Winter Playdough Recipe

Spray Paint Snowflake Silhouette

Blue Candy Cane Science Experiment

Igloo Camping Pretend Play

Winter-themed Treasure Blocks

Polar Bear Small World

Winter Sensory Trays

Painting Ice and Snow

Ice Drum Musical Instruments

Frozen-Inspired Shadow Box

Scissor Skill Snow Cutting Activities

Kid’s Winter Wonderland Play Tablescape

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Book Inspired Tree Art

August 14, 2018 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Tree Art inspired by the storybook "Wow! Said The Owl" by Tim Hopgood. Papercraft art using a variety of colors and textures.

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Inspiration For The Tree Art

Trees are a popular art theme, and I love using tree art in a mosaic pattern on a bulletin board display.

Over the years I’ve done a few tree displays celebrating our four Alberta seasons. This year I chose an art project based on the storybook “Wow! Said The Owl” by Tim Hopgood. In the story, an owl stays up past his bedtime one summer night and notices the beautiful colors of early morning, midday, and dusk. The owl loves all the color schemes but decides the night colors are still the best. As I read the story, I was saying “Wow” right along with the owl, because the illustrations featuring the owl and tree throughout the day are gorgeous!

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Art Set-Up

Paper supplies to make the tree art pictures. An all-ages book inspired art activity.

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Based on the colors in the book, I used heart-themed paper punches to cut a variety of leaves. I used circle paper punches for the sun and moon. Butterfly paper punches came in handy for the midday pictures. A sticker owl was available to complete each picture.

For the art project, I used four different blue shades of 9 x 12 fade-resistant paper. This size displays perfectly as a mosaic pattern on a feature bulletin board I have access to. I cut tree trunks in different shades of brown and glued one on each piece of blue paper.

Then children got a little bag with shapes to create a tree scene. Paper pieces were attached with a glue stick. Some children questioned why we were using heart shapes for the leaves, so I showed them heart-shaped leaves from real plants.

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Tree Art Themes

Children completed at least two of the following projects.

Sunrise paper craft tree inspired by the storybook "Wow! Said The Owl" by Tim Hopgood.

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Mid day paper craft tree inspired by the storybook 'Wow! said The Owl' by Tim Hopgood.

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Sunset paper craft tree inspired by the storybook "Wow! Said The Owl" by Tim Hopgood.

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Nighttime paper craft tree inspired by the storybook 'Wow! Said The Owl' by Tim Hopgood.

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Some of the completed pictures were saved for each child’s memory album; others were saved for the bulletin board display.

Tree art projects arranged in a mosaic pattern on a bulletin board.

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A second bulletin board idea…

Tree art bulletin board idea inspired by the storybook "Wow! said The Owl" by Tim Hopgood.

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Tree art depicting the seasons of winter, spring, summer, and fall is always a stunner. And it is easy to display on a bulletin board for parents and children to admire.

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