This handprint butterfly craft is SO CUTE and it’s so simple to make. Hold the popsicle stick to turn your butterfly into a puppet – the wings flutter as you move it through the air!
Decorate the wings to make your butterfly unique. All you need are a few simple craft supplies and you can make this simple butterfly craft in less than 10 minutes.
RELATED: Coffee Filter Butterflies
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Handprint Butterfly
Materials:
- 1 sheet Construction paper (any color)
- 1 Pipe cleaner (any color)
- 1 popsicle stick
- 4 Pom poms (1/2 inch)
- 1 Pom pom (1 inch)
- 2 Googly eyes (3/16 inch)
Equipment:
- Markers
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Instructions:
STEP 1: Find what you need
- Gather all your supplies and materials.
STEP 2: Make the handprint
- Fold the piece of construction paper in half.
- Place your hand on the folded edge of the paper so there's about 2 inches between the fold and the end of the thumb. (So that the fold in the paper is in the middle of the palm.) Trace an outline around the hand print.
- Cut out the hand print.
- Open the paper handprint and colour a pattern on both sides of the butterflies using markers or pencil crayons. Optional: Keep the design symmetrical, just like a real butterfly.
STEP 3: Make the antennae
- Cut a pipe cleaner to be approximately 4 inches long.
- Fold the pipe cleaner in half, into a V shape.
- Pinch one end of the pipe cleaner and roll it into a spiral. Repeat to make a spiral with the other end of the pipe cleaner
STEP 4: Make the body
- Add a glob of tacky glue to one end of the popsicle stick.
- Press the bottom of the pipe cleaner antennae onto the glob of glue.
- Continue using the tacky glue to first attach the larger pom pom, then the smaller pom poms to the popsicle stick. Leave about 2 inches of the popsicle stick empty so you'll be able to hold the butterfly as a puppet.
- Attach the googly eyes to the large pom pom, again using tacky glue.
STEP 5: Attach the body
- Squeeze a line of tacky glue down the fold in the paper handprint.
- Press the popsicle stick body onto the paper handprint.
- Your handprint butterfly is complete. Pinch the end of the popsicle stick and make the wings flutter as it flies through the air!
What type of glue works best for this handprint butterfly craft?
We like to use Aleene’s Tacky Glue for any craft projects that use pom poms. (It dries in less than 10 minutes!) A low temperature glue gun also works really well to hold the pieces in place.
I don’t recommend using regular white glue for this project. If you use regular white glue, you’ll need to wait overnight for the pom poms to dry, and even then, they may not stick very well.
What type of paper works best?
We used construction paper for the handprint butterfly craft you see in the photos. The thin paper makes the wings flutter nicely when you’re using these butterflies as puppets.
Construction paper tends to fade quickly so if you’d like your butterflies to last longer you can try using colored card stock or colored printer paper to make them.
What can I use for the butterfly’s body instead of pom poms?
No pom poms? No problem! You can use stickers, sticker rhinestones or washi tape to make the butterfly’s body. You could even use markers or gel pens to color the popsicle stick body.
What are some more ideas for patterns on the butterfly wings?
Try drawing dots, hearts, circles, diamonds, wavy lines or zig zags on your handprint butterfly wings.
You could also decorate the wings with heart stickers, sticker rhinestones or tiny pom poms.
Here’s even more butterfly craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books- A- Million | Indiebound | Indigo | Amazon Canada
Hello, thanks for the craft. I will be doing it at the public library where I work. Can I use your images to advertise? TIA.
Hi Annika! Awesome, sounds like fun.
Yes, you’re welcome to use an image so long as it is credited. Please see our Permissions page for full details.