Butterfly Foot Print Paintings

When I saw these butterfly foot print paintings, I knew we had to make some since they are so cute and we love butterflies. I can see them as an Easter craft, Mother's Day craft, or just a nice craft for spring. They could easily be framed to make nice wall art.

{Footprint Butterfly by Mia, Age 5}

{Footprint Butterfly by Logan, Age 2 1/2}

Materials:

• paper
• foam paintbrushes
• acrylic paint
• Styrofoam trays
• black permanent marker
• newspaper to protect work surface
• old towels, paper towels, baby wipes, etc.

Directions:

1. Before starting this project get ready for a potential mess by protecting your work surface with newspaper. (Note: I recommend doing this on your dining room floor.) Cover kids clothing or have them wear old clothes as acrylic paints will stain. Be sure to have old towels, paper towels or baby wipes handy for quick clean up. (You definitely do not want kids running away with messy feet!)
2. The original picture I found of this craft was using canvases, which would be nice, but I didn't have any. I used white cardstock which I had on hand. Lay the paper on top of the newspaper.
3. Pour about 3 or 4 paint colors of your child's choosing onto a Styrofoam tray (reused from meat packaging) or a plate. Have your child sit in a chair near the paper and paint the colors onto the bottom of one foot using a large foam paintbrush. (I had my kids tell me their preference for the order of the colors first.) Help child off chair and press his foot firmly onto the paper. Note: The placement of the feet is opposite of the way they would naturally be standing. (The left footprint becomes the right wing of the butterfly and the right footprint becomes the left wing.) Be sure to plan accordingly so that you have enough room on your paper for both prints.
4. Clean the bottom of the foot and repeat with the other foot. Try to place the footprints as closely together as possible.
5. Apply some paint to your child's thumb and make two impressions above the wings for the ends of the antennae. Allow paint to dry completely.
6. Using a permanent black marker, draw the butterfly's head, antennae, and body, including a face, if desired. (Note: I realized after doing this that our butterflies weren't truly anatomically correct since they should only have a head and 2 other body segments, but I was doing my best to close the gaps between the footprints. If you are inclined, you can make your butterflies more scientific, but I think ours turned out nicely.)