National Dragonfly Day falls on the second Saturday of June, and we’re celebrating with a Dashing Dragonfly Papercraft! Great for kids of all ages!

Which creature would you consider an amazing hunter? A lion? Or a tiger? Well, today we learnt that it’s neither – a far better hunter than the king of beasts is the humble dragonfly!

No, we’re not joking! A lion catches his prey on an average of two times out of 10, while that ratio is nine out of ten for a dragonfly. Dragonflies can anticipate the pathway of its prey and adjust its path accordingly. That’s some super accurate hunting you have there!

If that little bit of trivia has you intrigued, here are some more fun facts about these interesting creatures.

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Fun Facts about Dragonflies

Dragonflies can fly at super-speed, and they can do so forward, backward and upside-down
There are over 5,000 species of dragonflies are currently known to man
Dragonflies catch their prey while flying, and also eat them up mid-air
They have huge eyes which give them almost 360-degree vision, except directly behind them
They have serrated teeth, due to which they are also called ‘Odonates’, derived from the Greek word ‘Odonata’ which means the ‘toothed one’

Maybe because the dragonfly is so amazing, there is a day dedicated to it, National Dragonfly Day, which falls on the second Saturday of June. Since we’re in June right now, it’s only right to celebrate this special day with a fun dragonfly papercraft!

Dashing Dragonfly Papercraft for Kids

Supplies required:

Colored craft papers
Glitter paper
Pencil
A pair of scissors
Craft glue
Googly eyes
Sharpies

How to make the Dragonfly Papercraft for Kids:

1. Download the Dragonfly Papercraft template. The template contains parts of the dragonfly, including wings and multiple strips to create the dragonfly’s body.

2. Trace the parts of the dragonfly template on craft papers of the appropriate colors and cut them out. We’ve chosen shades of green for the wings, orange for the base and yellow for the remaining strips. For the smallest wing cutouts, we’ve gone with glitter paper, but you can also use regular craft paper.

3. Let’s start our dragonfly papercraft by assembling the wings. Take the largest wing cutout and stick the teardrop shapes inside the wing as shown below.

4. Stick the tiny glitter pieces on top of the previous cutouts. Now you have a triple-layered wing!

5. Let’s put aside the wing for now and move on to the body of the dragonfly papercraft. We’re going to use the strips other than the base strip for this. Roll each strip into cylinders and secure in place with glue.

6. Time to put all the paper cylinders in place. Take the base strip and stick the largest cylinder at one end of the strip.

7. Now stick the remaining cylinders one the base strip, one behind the other.

8. Finish the dragonfly’s body by sticking the smallest paper cylinder at the end.

9. Stick two googly eyes on top of the largest part of the dragonfly’s body. The body is now complete.

10. All that’s left to do is to apply some glue in the middle of the wing and stick the dragonfly body on it.

That’s it! Your dragonfly papercraft is complete and it’s looking good!

You have to admit, adding that little bit of glitter certainly takes our dragonfly papercraft to the next level! You can experiment with different colors to create your own kind of dragonfly, and maybe even embellish it with some tiny jewel stickers. After all, these amazing insects deserve all the spotlight!

If you liked this craft, you may also enjoy these colorful insect crafts: