My Gym: Butterfly Painting

Painting is one of those activities for kids which is guaranteed to entertain - but it can be a nightmare for the adults looking after them! Spilled paint, stained clothing, children daring each other to drink the water they've been washing their brushes in - it's hard work to supervise, especially with a large group, and it's in groups that children find activities like this most fun.

The trick, of course, is to keep them out of trouble by keeping them focused on what they're supposed to be doing. That's much easier of you're working on something with a bit of mystery to it - something like butterfly painting.

When you're painting butterflies, you'll start off by using just half of the paper. Draw a pencil line down the middle or fold the paper over so that the kids don't get confused. Give them bright watercolors or poster paints and encourage them to paint right up to the folded edge. They should be painting just one side of a butterfly - two overlapping wings and a slim dark body with a feeler at one end.

The important part is, of course, the wings. Children will love using vivid colors to bring these to life. They'll compete to have the best butterfly design. Encourage them to use their imagination and keep talking to them throughout, asking them about their choices. If they're stuck for ideas, help them by showing them some pictures of real butterflies or of the sort of flowers the butterfly might want to feed from.

When the painting has been finished, dampen the paint on the paper if it's dried. Then fold the paper over so that the painted part prints a mirror image onto the other half of the page. When you unfold it again, you'll see a beautiful butterfly!

This is one of the most popular activities for kids because it gives them exciting pictures to compare, and they'll love to see their artwork displayed on the walls. They'll enjoy butterfly painting so much, you'll find them remarkably little trouble. Much like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, each unfolded picture is a surprise.

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