Our Last Project of the School Year: Painted Paper Butterflies Inspired by Eric Carle

To tie in with the unit on Eric Carle that the children have been working on with Mrs. Bernstein, we created some unique butterfly collages. This was a two-week project filled with color, texture and lots of creative experimentation. Below are some photos from week one showing students creating many, many sheets of painted paper, just like the ones Eric Carle uses in his collages. The tables were grouped by color family and the students were provided with brushes, lots of white paper and some texture-creating tools.

This week (week two), the children could either draw freehand or use stencils to cut butterfly wings out of the painted paper they had created. We pooled all the painted papers together and the children did a great job of sharing them with each other. After they had cut out four wings and a body, they glued down the parts onto clean paper. We looked at photographs of butterflies and talked about symmetry, and then the children embellished their wings with spots and other free-form shapes. For a final step, they could add a little splash of sequins to their collage.

And here are the completed butterflies - I wish the real ones in our neighborhood were this colorful!:

It has been a great honor to be able to work with your children this year, to watch their confidence and abilities grow, and to be able to help nurture in them an appreciation for art and art-making!

Please have a fun and safe summer!

All the best,

Lucy Zucaro

(lesson credit: http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/)