We don't get many butterflies in your yard, which is a shame. Mostly we get moths that Kay thinks are butterflies. Only rarely do we see a lovely monarch flutter by and when we do, it's an event.
Instead of bemoaning our lack of butterflies, we simply made some of our own! I already love the effect of markers on coffee filters, so any excuse to use those materials is fine by me. We took the materials outside and decorated a bunch of coffee filters with colorful marker patterns and designs.
Next was Kay's favorite part - wetting them all with the squirt bottle. Followed by her least favorite part - waiting for them to dry.
Finally, we were ready to assemble our butterfly swarm (did you know a group of butterflies can also be called a kaleidoscope or a rabble?). I folded the coffee filter in half, scrunched it up in the middle and clipped it with a clothes pin.
After we'd made several (enough so that we ran out of clothespins!) we went outside and clipped them on to the gazebo. Finally, we had our swarm/kaleidoscope/rabble of butterflies!
Note: It rained that night and we came out the next day to find all the color washed off our butterflies' wings. Now that's something nature's butterflies don't have to worry about!
