Cheap Creativity :: Spring Butterfly Toddler Craft

I enjoy doing crafts with my kids.  However, due to their ages, the average prep time for a craft is about 20 minutes, their involved time is maybe 6 minutes, clean-up lasts at least 10 minutes and the cost... astronomical!  I'm sure the grandparents are tired of me continually requesting "paints" for holidays.  The washable paint selection at our local craft and mega stores has me wondering if there's a black market in craft supplies that I'm unaware of.  Crafting is supposed to be CHEAP.  I hoard their paints and watercolor paper and yet, we are ALWAYS out of them.  I limit them to a few squeezes of paint and divide the paper into quarters and yet... it vanishes without us ever feeling as though we got to delve into it.

Currently I'm enjoying a long weekend home with the kids and I wanted to do something... without buying anything new or feeling guilty about using up our stash.  Then it hit me... COFFEE FILTER BUTTERFLIES!

Here's what you need:

• coffee filters that can lay flat
• ice cube tray or small bowls
• water
• food coloring
• paint brush (optional)
• drying rack (optional)
• chenille stems/ pipe cleaners
• OPTIONAL tray to contain the watery mess
• OPTIONAL drying rack (I used baking cooling racks)
• OPTIONAL:  thread & tape for hanging
• VARIATION:  make the bodies with clothespins, color the body with markers, add googly eyes, then clip the chenille stem into the top for antennas

I set the stage by giving each girl a tray (to contain the mess since food coloring stains), an ice cube tray containing a few primary colors (I chose yellow, blue & red), a paint brush, and a few separated coffee filters (they stick together and it's frustrating for wee-ones to separate them).  Let them color the filters however they choose (see below) and then once the filters dry, just scrunch the middle, wrap a piper cleaner around it and twirl the ends for antennas.  Then I hung them along our windows with white thread and scotch tape.

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Hazel enjoyed "painting" her filters, loving the red+blue=purple combo.

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Heidi liked to crumple her filters and then dunk them into the colored water.  With pastels, everything turned out pretty... next time I won't dilute the colors quite so much.  I filled each ice cube section with water and only added 3-5 drops of color.  The filters are pretty, but not vibrant.

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And that my friends, is a fun and easy craft where mama gets to feel
generous and awesome while toddlers get to create, learn & use up materials
to their hearts' content!

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