The Butterfly Effect

Day three of art therapy camp was all about the butterflies.. well, and some fine motor skills (butterflies), joint compressions (jumbo punch), and lots of sensory input (paper mâché)! Students painted pieces of cardstock with any kind of picture, design, colors they wanted. Once dry, students used a jumbo punch and punched out butterflies. We then flipped over the butterflies and painted the other side. Using the jumbo punch wasn’t easy — some great heavy work and a tedious task…the paper had to be placed just right. Students’ focus on this activity was impressive. They were more patient than I was!

While the butterflies were drying again, we assembled our basic structures from swim noodles and duct tape. We assembled them by making a short chain of swim noodles…then onto the really tedious part!

Folding our butterflies in half was a super fine motor activity in and of itself. But we had to then attach the butterflies to the swim noodles with pins. The pin went right in the middle of the butterfly and the students had to make sure the pin went in all the way and then fold the butterfly one more time to finish it off. Folding the butterflies gives the look of the butterflies landing.

The other smaller project we did today was use blocks of wood with different kinds of yarn and string wrapped around them. We dipped them in plates of paint and used them for stamps. The finished product was quite interesting because each stamp was unique.

These activities we’ve been working on this week aren’t just beautiful artwork. They’re a fun way to practice and improve fine motor skills (butterflies), get some joint compressions (jumbo punch), and receive a lot of sensory input (paper mâché). Putting our hands into the paper mâché paste is very therapeutic and even calming in some cases.