Finding ways to boost wellbeing and feel good at home are imperative towards maintaining healthy bodies and minds.

Getting creative with the kids is a great way to keep them entertained for hours and help their imaginations continue to run wild while staying at home. Over the course of our closure, we'll be sharing quick and easy-to-follow guides for fun family crafts using bits and pieces from around the house.

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Have a go at creating these fun flapping butterflies using a sheet of paper and a straw.

Equipment needed:

• A4 paper
• Colouring pens or pencils 
• Scissors 
• Pencil
• Glue
• Straw
• Sellotape

Let's get started!

1. Start by cutting a strip of paper off one side of your A4 paper, about 4cm wide. Put it to one side, you’ll need it later. 

2. Turn the paper around so it is horizontal on the table in front of you. Then, fold the paper in half from the left to right side. Then create a crease slightly inwards from the folded edge. Again, about 4cm in is perfect. 

3. Draw the outline of half a butterfly on the paper, starting from the 4cm crease in the paper. 

4. Cut out your butterfly shape, without cutting through the crease. Trim the edges of the crease so they are the same height as the butterfly.

5. Unfold the paper and decorate your butterfly. When you open up the wings, make sure the middle of your design lines up.

6. Find the strip of paper you cut off your original A4 sheet. Roll it around a pencil to create a tube. Run glue along the edge to stop it unravelling. Trim your paper tube so that it is the same length as your straw.

7. Next, take your straw and cut a 2cm slit in the top (ask an adult for help as this can be a bit fiddly). Slot your butterfly into the slit in the straw and tape it down on each side.

8. Cut a longer slit in the top of your paper tube, like you did with the straw. This one needs to be about 5-6cm long. Slide the straw into the tube as far as it goes, and the butterfly will sit in the slit in the paper tube. Sellotape down both sides so that they are attached to the wings of your butterfly.

9. There you have it. Hold onto the paper tube and move the straw up and down gently inside the tube to make the butterfly’s wings flap! 

What else could you make? What about a flapping bird? Or a flapping cape for a superhero? Share your photos or videos with us so we can see your creations!