Location: indoor or outdoor

Materials: watercolors and coffee filters

Coffee filters provide a really nice surface for painting with watercolors because of how absorbent they are.

Invite your children to add different colors of paint using q-tips, eyedroppers, or paintbrushes (or all 3!).

Possible Extensions:

• The coffee filters can be turned into flowers by attaching a pipe cleaner as a stem. Display in the classroom to create an indoor "garden" or send home for children to display at home.
• Wet the coffee filters first and then drip small drops of color onto them. This is a great activity to do if you're exploring color mixing.
• Attach the coffee filter to a clothespin to create a butterfly instead
• For a lighter mess version, color the coffee filters with markers and then spray with water to spread the colors.