Tie Dye Flowers

Are you ready for the easiest, most engaging process art project so good your child will be begging to make more and proud to give these as gifts?? This is an oldie but a goodie! Not only great for preschoolers but also their younger AND older siblings. So...much...fun! Here's what you need...

For each single flower, you need 3 coffee filters and one pipe cleaner. You could use straws in place of the pipe cleaners if you want. There are some great choices for straws now! There are tons of colors and patterns available. Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and even Walmart have them. Check them out!

First, color your filters with water based markers. The littlest learners will make marks that look like scribbles to grown up eyes. These marks are amazing! It's how they build their fine motor muscles and learn how writing tools work.

Older learners might want to spend more time on their filters adding special lines, designs and shapes.

Either way works perfectly for this project!

Next comes the best part! Spray the colorful filters with the spray bottle. The littles in my class LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this the most. I recommend placing a few paper towels in a tray to protect your surfaces and to absorb some of the water

See how the colors start to blend together?? This is magic! You miiiiiiiiiight have to encourage your littles to STOP spraying after a bit. You do want a nice wet filter, but tons of water will dilute the colors.

Next comes the hard part...letting the filters dry. But, you could always decorate more filters while you're waiting!

Once the filters are dry, layer 3 of them on top of each other.

Fold them in half.

Fold in half again. Staple a pipe cleaner to the bottom corner.

Begin pulling the filters apart gently. Look at the beautiful flower!!

Place it in a vase, tie it with a bow and give it as a gift! This will certainly brighten someone's day!!