COFFEE FILTER VALENTINE HEARTS ACTIVITY

There is nothing that I love more than spending time doing activities with my son! He loves exploring new items, textures, and concepts through hands on play. And the things that he has learned from them are amazing! Not to mention that I have gotten some really cute keepsakes in the process!



For Valentine's Day this year, I wanted to have Colton make cards for his grandparents and I wanted to go beyond the normal, give him some paper and crayons and let him color one. So I decided to come up with something that he could do that was different and fun!  Last year, I saw something on Pinterest about coffee filter art projects for toddlers.  I searched through my boards and couldn't find the pin (possibly because I have thousands of pins), but I thought how hard could it be to figure it out myself.  And they turned out awesome!

What You Need:

*Coffee filters
*Washable markers
*Dropper or medicine syringe
*Water
*Cookie sheet (I kept an old brown one for a craft tray)
*Towel

What You Do:

Once I got all the supplies together, I told Colton that we were going to paint with markers and he needed to put on his "Big Boy Paint Shirt" (which is just an old shirt of my husband's).  I placed the cookie sheet on an old towel. I gave Colton some markers and a coffee filter and told him to color it pretty colors. He was really excited for this part because he loves coloring with markers and not just crayons. 

Once he colored the filter, I gave him a small bowl of water and an unused medicine syringe. I showed him how to drop water onto the filter. He thought it was so cool that the color spread out when the water was dropped on it.

 

Then he wanted to add more marker to the wet filter.  This entertained him for a good half hour which is amazing that anything could make him sit still that long.

After he had enough, I placed them on the towel to let the filters dry completely. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, I traced hearts onto the filters and cut them out.





 

That's how easy these were for my son and I to make.  Now you have these cute tie-dye hearts to use in several projects.  And the best part, using different colors or shapes can make this project perfect for any occasion.  Below you will find pictures of a few things Colton and I made using these hearts.

 Valentine's Day Cards

(Colton colored inside to add an even more personal touch)

 

Hands and Heart Picture

(I traced Colton's hands and added one of his tie-dyed hearts)

 

 

I love how this coffee filter tie-dye activity can be used for anything. I think I will have Colton make green shamrocks for St. Patty's Day!