Coffee Filter Hearts for Kids

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.)

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

 

 

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! 

 

 

Looking for other Hearts Activities?

Hearts, Hearts, Hearts! Emergent Reader

Washi Tape Hearts

Baking Soda, Vinegar, and Hearts Sensory Play

Hearts Fine Motor Practice

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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