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This beautiful Butterfly Suncatcher Craft is a simple and easy outdoor summer craft for kids the whole family will enjoy making as well!
Looking for a fun summer craft to do with your kids? This Butterfly Suncatcher Craft is the perfect project for you! It’s simple, easy, and beautiful. You can make it in less than half an hour. Plus, it’s so colorful and vibrant that it will be sure to catch your child’s attention. Let them design their own butterfly suncatcher by choosing any colors they want. It’s an engaging activity that everyone in the family will enjoy. The kids are going to have so much fun creating this beautiful outdoor craft. And when they’re done, they’ll have a unique and special butterfly that is fun to display outside!
Before we get started on materials and instructions I wanted to give a shoutout to my Instagram friend Gina from @aplayfilledlife for inspiring this project. Gina is the queen of suncatchers – make sure to check out her gorgeous giant-sized ones! I’d also like to thank Anna from @earth_and_sky_play for inspiring making a smaller-sized suncatcher.
Watch the video in this post to see how to make this pretty suncatcher craft.
What do you need to make butterfly suncatchers?
This recycled craft is so simple and a clever way to use up those empty paper tubes! We cut them into strips to make the butterfly wings. Then all you need are popsicle sticks, googly eyes, pipe cleaners for antennas and transparent colored gel filters. We used more durable plastic-coated gel filters so our craft could last longer, but you can also use more inexpensive colored cellophane. Although note this will be more crinkly and not hold its shape as well as the plastic kind.
How does a suncatcher work?
You definitely sunlight or a bright light indoors to reflect the light. According to Wikipedia: “A suncatcher or light catcher is a small reflective, refractive and/or iridescent ornament.” It usually includes a clear element, glass (or in our case, gel filters) to catch the sunlight.
Butterfly Suncatcher – Materials:
Empty paper roll tubes
Transparent colored gel filters
Plastic googly eyes
Pipe cleaners
Popsicle sticks (we used colored but you can use plain)
Hot glue gun or craft glue
Scissors
Pen or marker
Butterfly Suncatcher Craft
Materials
- Empty paper roll tubes
- Transparent colored gel filters
- Plastic googly eyes
- Pipe cleaners
- Popsicle sticks (we used colored but you can use plain)
- Hot glue gun or craft glue
- Scissors
- Pen or marker
Instructions
- Cut your paper roll into approximate one inch strips. You will need 4 per butterfly.
- Shape the into tear drop shapes somewhat to create the wings. Use one as a template and trace with a pen or marker onto a colored gel filter of your choice. Once you have that shape, use that a a template to cut out several more colored wings. Note we cut our gel filters a bit wider so they would be easier to glue onto the paper tube wings.
- Glue the gel filter to the paper tube wings and trim off excess with scissors.
- Glue the wings to your popsicle stick and glue googly eyes on.
- Take two small strips of pipe cleaners, curle them in to create antennas and glue to the top o fhte popsicke stick.
Take your butterfly suncatcher outdoors to play!
More fun summer crafts:
Paper Butterfly Craft
Summer Doodle Books
Summer Fruit Fan
Agnes Hsu is a mom of three and has been inspiring parents and kids to get creative with easy activities and family friendly recipes for over 10 years. She shares her love for creative play and kids food to her 2MM+ followers online. Agnes' commitment to playful learning and kindness has not only raised funds for charity but also earned features in prestigious nationwide publications.