How to make endangered Mission blue butterflies from toilet paper rolls

Make a recycled replica of the federally endangered mission blue butterfly following the steps below. To get inspired, you should read our page about Mission blue butterfly facts.

Source: The Best Ideas for Kids

Materials:

  • Toilet paper roll
  • Googly eyes
  • Acrylic paint and paintbrush
  • Pipe cleaner
  • Markers
  • Black beans or small buttons
  • Recycled blue paper or newspaper

Directions:

  1. Remove remaining toilet paper from the roll.
  2. Given your available materials, are you going to paint or cover the outside of the toilet paper roll?
    • For recycled paper: Select the pieces of paper you want to cover the box, with adult supervision, cut paper the paper to fit around toilet paper roll.
    • For paint: Paint your preferred color to the outside of the roll.
  3. Using the blue card stock or recycled paper, cut out the shape of the butterfly wings (see an example of the Mission blue butterfly wings here).
  4. Glue dried black beans or small buttons down the sides of the wings to replicate the Mission blue’s wing patterns.
  5. Make the butterfly antennas by bending pipe cleaner into a V. Curl the tips of the pipe cleaner into a curly-cue.
  6. Use your glue to attach the antennas to the inside of the paper roll.
  7. Using either googly eyes or drawing them on with a black marker, add eyes to your Mission blue.
  8. Lastly, glue the wings to the roll and meet your new bug friend!