Easy Toddler Coffee Filter Flowers

Apr 12

Written By

I've been seeing all kinds of coffee filter crafts floating around the internet, and I wanted to join in the fun! To make any such craft a success with my tot, I knew I needed it to be super simple. Read on to see what I came up with.The first thing we needed to do was get some color on the coffee filters. I decided the easiest way to do this with my 2 year old would be to use do-a-dot paints. I gave her a few filters stacked together at a time and let her go to town with the paints. I chose to have her work with one color at a time, but you could certainly mix the colors on the same filter for added interest.Because of the short attention span of my (any) toddler, we did this craft in multiple short sessions. This second step involved adding water to the paper filters in order to help the colors "bleed." (I suppose this step could be optional if you wanted to go for a polka-dot flower look.) Pooky doesn't have the dexterity to use a spray bottle (as many other versions of this craft called for), and we haven't worked with eye-droppers yet either. So we wet the filters using paintbrushes.Since the do-a-dot paint was already dry, it took a lot of water to make the paint "run." We had to nearly soak the coffee filters in order to get the watercolor look I was going for.Then we laid them out to dry. They dried completely in about two hours, but we waited until the next day to continue with the craft.

The next step was to get the "stems" ready. I showed Pooky how to thread a pipe-cleaner through a straw.

This was hard for her, so I got it started, and then she took over. (I cut the straws down a bit so more pipe-cleaner would be left hanging out to wrap the flower with.)

Another step was to prepare our "vase" for the flowers. Pooky filled an old jam jar with baby lima beans (while I watched closely to make sure she didn't try to eat them).

This was a great transfer activity to help exercise her fine motor skills.

(Look at that concentration!)

Next up was assembling the flowers. I, of course, did this part, which consisted of folding a couple of filters in quarters and then wrapping with the pipe-cleaner.

Easy peasy!

Then Pooky stuffed the flowers into the vase filled with the dried beans.

And there you have it! Easy coffee filter flowers almost completely created by a toddler! These have made a bright and lovely addition to our side table. I think I might spritz them with a bit of perfume or essential oil to get the full floral effect.

And if this isn't enough to get you and your kiddo(s) in the mood for spring, check out our Ten Books about Spring for Young Children.