Project: BUTTERFLY SUN PRINTS, a Fun Activity for Kids

Sun prints in the shape of butterflies

In April, I did an author visit at Pilgrim School in Los Angeles as part of the school's Earth Week celebration. Science teacher Kathie Shorkey showed me a wonderful art project she had done with the first graders. Using found objects–ranging from sticks, to buttons, to pop-tabs from drink cans–the children formed the shape of a butterfly on sun print photo paper and then exposed the paper to the sun. The paper was then developed in water and the shape of the butterfly was revealed against a background of blue.

Kathie Shorkey, Science teacher, Pilgrim School, Los Angeles, CA

You can find sun print paper at many sites on the internet or at many science museums. Any object that you can find--natural or manufactured--can be used to make the shadows on the paper.
After arranging your objects on the paper, take your sun print outside and lay it in direct sunlight for 2-5 minutes.
The areas of the paper exposed to the sun will fade from blue to white. When you see most of the color disappear from the paper, your print has been fully exposed. If no direct sunlight is available, don’t worry–just expose your print a little longer and wait for the same fading effect. Under cloud cover, the process will take 5-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the clouds.
After your paper has been exposed, remove the objects and rinse your sun print paper in water. Watch the white turn into blue and the blue turn into white.To get the deepest blue that the paper can give, leave it in the water for a while: 1-5 minutes.
Lay your sun print flat on an absorbent surface and allow it to dry.You can use a paper towel or a piece of cardboard as a bed for your sun print while it dries. Putting it on something absorbent will help to avoid the formation of water spots by drawing the water away from the sun print paper.
A sun print is a kind of photograph called a cyanotype. They are easy and fun to make! Learn more about sun prints at http://www.sunprints.org/how-it-works/ .