Butterfly Suncatchers

Make your classroom bright and cheerful by displaying a beautiful array of butterfly sun catchers on your windows.  You’ll need transparency film and sun catcher paints for this project.  The sun catcher paint gives the best results, but you can use permanent markers also.   A very little sun catcher paint goes a long way.   I found that by cutting the bottom two inches from a plastic liter soda bottle and using the five little cups to hold the paint, helped me from wasting paint. 

There are two patterns included in this project.  On one sheet the butterflies are left blank, so if you choose, you can draw the designs in the wings.  The other sheet has designs printed in the butterfly wings.   There are three different designs on that sheet.

Supplies:

• Transparency film
• Butterfly Pattern (without designs)
• Butterfly Pattern, with design (with designs)
• Sun catcher paints
• Script brush or small artist brush
• Scissors
• Glue dots

Directions:

   

  Lay the transparency film over a butterfly pattern.  You may want to use small pieces of tape to hold the film from shifting.  

 

 

Use a script brush for outlining the butterfly with black paint.  Let dry.

 

     Fill in the spaces with sun catcher paints in colors of your choice.  You get the best coverage by letting the paint puddle in the spaces.  Be sure to wash your brush between colors.  Let dry.

  

      Carefully cut around the butterfly or cut leaving a 1/8” clear border around the butterfly.

 

        Fold along each side of the butterfly body, with the painted side up, to give the butterfly an in-flight look. 

 

   

           On the back side of the butterfly body, place two glue dots.  

·

Glue your butterfly to a window.

The butterfly with yellow on it’s wings is another one using sun catcher paints.

The blue and red butterfly  is done with permanent markers.

The last picture is of the butterflies flitting on my patio window.

5th Grade Projects Gallery: