I recently wrote in a post about our first experience with basic Coffee Filter Art how excited I was about having white coffee filters available when we moved to the US.
Still, after using them for an art activity that one time, we didn’t use them for anything but making coffee for the longest time.
Thankfully, I came across No Time for Flash Cards’ post Simple Heart Craft for Toddlers recently and immediately thought: “We have to do that!” It’s a super simple technique, quick, and I love the way the colors bleed into the coffee filter!
The next day, we made Coffee Filter Hearts!
{Want more Valentine’s Activities? Here you go!}
(E was 4 years and 3 months old.)
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Materials for Coffee Filter Hearts:
- White coffee filters.
- Scissors.
- Markers. {We used dot markers, just because E loves them and requested to use them.}
- Eyedropper.
- Water in a little bowl.
- Shallow tray or cookie sheet to work on and protect the table.
- Paper towels.
I cut six hearts at once from coffee filters folded in half.
I thought it would be best to leave them all in a pile to allow for better absorption, but E insisted on starting with just one coffee filter heart.
She made dots with her blue and purple dot markers,
stopping every once in a while to count the dots, until she was satisfied with how many she had.
When she started dripping water on the coffee filter, it honestly didn’t look like much at first.
When E decided that she’d used enough water,
we placed the heart in between two layers of paper towels to soak up the excess water.
Now we’re talking – so pretty!
While the first coffee filter heart was drying, I suggested again that E try to do the remaining five hearts in one pile. She agreed to give it a try.
She used fewer dots this time, but the overall pattern was similar.
After again absorbing the extra water with a paper towel, she started peeling the individual layers of coffee filter apart. {The layers are really really thin. We didn’t have any trouble with tearing, but it was hard to tell if we were holding one, two or three layers at any given time. Knowing that we’d started out with five, we managed to pull them all apart again.}
E placed the rest of the coffee filter hearts on paper towels to dry,
then discovered that the left-over edges of the coffee filter made a great headdress 😉
When all the hearts had dried, we put them in our window with sticky tape. I just love the delicate colors!
At the end of the day, it didn’t really make a big difference whether E used just one or several coffee filters at a time.
We both enjoyed the technique so much, we decided to make coffee filter eggs the next day. And we even found a use for the paper towels that had absorbed some of the colors: Paper Towel Snowman Suncatcher.
We made the video above years later when E was 9 – and she still enjoyed this simple craft immensely 🙂
Have you tried making coffee filter hearts? What’s your favorite use of coffee filters? Leave a comment below!
Need a fun way to teach counting? Check out this counting games pack!
This adorable Valentine’s Day Counting Games Pack includes 5 different types of printable counting games, all with different variations that support kids at different stages of learning. Find out more HERE.
Looking for other Hearts Activities?
Hearts, Hearts, Hearts! Emergent Reader
Baking Soda, Vinegar, and Hearts Sensory Play
Number Sentences with Conversation Hearts by Life Over Cs
Sorted Button Valentine’s Heart by Hands On As We Grow
Yarn Wrapped Hearts Mobile by School Time Snippets
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can you please link to your dot markers?
The dot markers we used were bingo daubers from the dollar store, but they’re also available at a higher price on Amazon.
You can find them at dollar tree store.
What tape did you use? I can’t get regular clear scotch tape to stick.
Just regular scotch tape. How odd that it won’t stick for you. You could try a little dab of glue stick. It should be easy to wash off your window when you take the decorations down. Let me know if this works!
Yesterday, I taught this project to kinders. They loved it! It was an easy prep and fun art exploration. Thank you!
Hi Anne, thank you so much for the feedback! I’m so glad to hear that your students and you enjoyed it as much as we did 🙂
Have a great day,
-Tina