Craft your very own butterfly kite!

My teacher's sample kite. This would look even nicer
with a black background I think.

     Children love to craft kites in May and I love to design templates for them use for these playful activities. Below I have included two of my own butterfly designs. Here is also an additional link to a similar project that you can watch on a video and here is also a similar butterfly kite project from mothergoose.com

Supply List:

• Printed copies of my butterfly patterns provided below
• wooden skewers (clip off the tips)
• long straws
• scissors
• white school glue
• masking tape
• a variety of bright magic markers
• crepe paper streamers (any color)
• stapler

Step-by-step Instructions:

1. Download, and print the butterfly patterns included below. You may need to enlarge these a bit more in a Word Doc by pulling a corner of the jpg. to the edge of the document's screen.
2. Color the butterfly kite prints with bright magic markers.
3. Fold the butterfly's body in half at the dotted line.
4. Fold out apart from the first fold each butterfly wing. 
5. Inserted inside the first fold a long straw. Apply a generous amount of white glue to this crease. 
6. Insert your kite string through the drawn circle (hole) behind the straw by pricking through the paper with the tip of your scissors. This straw will give your kite strength. Tie a knot with the string and include the amount of length that will allow a small child to fly the kite perhaps no more than five yards above his or her head.
7. The backside of your kite should include a wooden skewer pasted horizontally to the top edge of the kite. I glued mine down and then taped over it in order to reinforce my kite's strength. This is the detail that will actually insure your kite's ability to fly. Be sure to clip off the pointed tips of the skewer before gluing it down to the backside of the kite. You don't want any young students poking each other with the tips during the assignment.
8. Staple on some colorful crepe paper "tails" in whatever color pleases your students.

Far left, As you can see, the butterfly's body is folded in half at the dotted line and then the wings are folded out apart from the first fold. Inserted inside the first fold is a long straw. It is held in place with white glue. Next, Although I have colored the butterfly's body, I have left the hole white so that you may see that the kite string should be tied off here, behind the straw. Insert the string through this hole and behind the straw. The straw will give your kite strength. Center, The backside of your kite should include a wooden skewer pasted horizontally to the top edge of the kite. I glued mine down and then taped over it in order to reinforce my kite's strength. This is the detail that will actually insure your kite's ability to fly. Far right, Staple on some colorful crepe paper "tails" in whatever color pleases your students.

Two butterfly kite patterns for young students to assemble and color.

Click directly onto the image in order to download the largest possible file size.

My young students enjoyed coloring their butterfly kites with bright colored markers.

I assembled the kites ahead of time for these little ones so that the only work they would
need to do would be to color in their butterflies and staple on the crepe paper tails.

Find More Spring Butterfly Crafts Here