Make Static Butterflies in 5 Steps

Materials you'll need

• Tissue paper
• Balloon
• Black marker
• Scissors
• Tape
• Thin string 
• Fuzzy cloth

 

Step-by-step tutorial

Step 1: Lay your tissue paper flat and use a black marker to draw a butterfly shape.

Step 2: Cut out your butterfly along the outline.

Step 3: Pinch the butterfly at the center body and attach a piece of thin string to it with tape. Then tape the other end of the string to the table so the butterfly can hang freely in the air.

Step 4: Blow up your balloon. Then rub it against a fuzzy cloth for a few seconds to build up a static charge.

Step 5: Hold the charged balloon near the butterfly — without touching it — and watch it lift and flutter toward the balloon like magic.

Learn more

When you rub a balloon against a fuzzy cloth, electrons — tiny particles with a negative charge — transfer from the cloth onto the balloon's surface. This buildup of charge is called static electricity. When you hold the charged balloon near your butterfly, something cool happens inside the tissue paper: even though it starts out neutral, the balloon's negative charge pushes the tissue paper's own negative charges away and pulls its positive charges closer. That tiny shift creates just enough attraction to lift the super-lightweight tissue paper right off the table.