Butterfly Snack Bags

As another Winter storm looms here in Northeast Ohio I felt the need to bring a little Spring into our lives. Every couple months Lila has a special day at preschool where she gets to perform special classroom tasks and is allowed to bring in an item for show and tell. This week she had her third special day of the school year so we decided to mix it up a little bit and make an edible craft together she could share with her classmates during snack time.

I found the idea for these cute little butterfly snack bags in a Family Fun magazine while perusing periodicals at the bookstore and thought it would be a perfect project to do with my four year old. The only task she needed my help with was twisting the pipe cleaner around the bag. I've included a list of materials I used to create the butterfly bodies, as well as the recipe for the snack mix, but honestly the possibilities are endless, just use your imagination.  The butterfly bodies can be decorated with anything you have in your craft closet such as glitter glue, markers, paint, beads, buttons -- you name it, it would probably work.   If you prefer the snack to be healthy use nuts, dried fruit or fresh veggies.  If you rather it be more of a special treat use candy, cereal or crackers. In my opinion, as long as it is colorful and tastes good it will be perfect.

Butterfly Materials
Spring action clothespins
Glitter glue
Toothpicks
Wiggly eyes
Pipe cleaners 6 inches in length
Snack size resealable plastic bags

Snack Mix Ingredients
2 cups Crispix
2 cups Chocolate Cheerios
1 cup Fruit Flavored Jet Puffed Marshmallows
1 cup M & M Candies
Other colorful bag filler suggestions: Colored GoldFish Crackers, Froot Loops, Skittles, Jelly Belly Jelly Beans and Rainbow Popcorn.

Directions

• Squeeze the glitter glue on one side of a clothespin.
• Spread the glue with a toothpick.
• While the glue is still wet put on the wiggly eyes  near the clipping end of the clothespin and let dry.
• Combine all the ingredients for the snack mix in a large bowl.
• Fill each bag with a 1/2 cup of snack mix.
• Separate the mix in the bag and tie closed with a pipe cleaner.
• Curl the pipe cleaner to form an antenna.
• Clip the clothespin across the center of the tied bag to create your beautiful butterfly.

  

  

 

Servings

12 butterfly snack bags filled with a 1/2 cup of snack mix.

A Broken Oven Tip

I am not teacher, but I think this butterfly snack bag would be a perfect project to accompany a lesson on the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  You wouldn't even have to use real food to fill the bags. Instead, use small pieces of paper with pictures of the food the caterpillar eats and place them in the bag making a very colorful, very fun and very beautiful butterfly.