Butterfly Footprints! A Mother’s Day Gift.

I have done this craft for two years now, and if you’re a teacher…do not dive into this craft lightly.  It’s not a quick or clean craft.  If you’re a mom, or doing this with fewer kiddos, you should be just fine.  I love it because it’s super versatile.  Last year I used it as a Mother’s Day gift, this year I used it as an Easter craft, it could be perfect for spring-time themes, life cycle units, etc. 
You need…

• paint (I used tempera)
• cardstock
• markers
• kids who aren’t (too) afraid to get dirty
• cleaning supplies
• and if you’re unlucky (or just teach Kindergarten), carpet cleaner

Step One.  Pour generous amounts of paint in a small tub (or paper plate or whatever you have available).  Let the colors mix a bit.
Step Two.  Press bare feet to paint.  I find I learn a lot about my kids at this point.  Sometimes I’m surprised by the kids who love it.  Sometimes I’m more surprised by the kids who hate it.
Step Three.  Press painted feet to cardstock paper as so… 

Step Four.  Clean feet and let paint dry.  If you are doing this with a class, I recommend doing it at the end of the day so students have no time to ask, “Are they done yet?”  “Do we get to color them now?”  “Mrs. T, can I fix my arches?”
Step Five.  Model to students how to color in the butterfly body and antennae.  I try to give as minimal modeling as possible, because if I show detailed examples, I suddenly realize I have about 14 replicas of my model.  Let students use markers to color!  Or puffy paint.  Or glitter.  Or whatever you want.

Step Six.  You’re done!  When I taught first grade, the students wrote: Happy Mother’s Day! I love you! on them.  But this year we ran out of time and kept it simple. 

 

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