When you’re looking for a simple craft material, you cannot go wrong with coffee filters. I really didn’t think much about using them for art projects with the kids until I ended up buying way too many at once. But it turns out that you can use coffee filters as the basis for lots of crafts!

Since springtime is (finally!) on the way, I wanted to start making some fun spring crafts with our kids and that’s how we ended up making another one of our coffee filter crafts for kids – a simple coffee filter rainbow craft! This is such a fun project that only takes a few minutes to make!

If you want to read about these incredible atmospheric phenomena, don’t miss our list of beautiful rainbow books to share with kids!

And be sure to see our list of 50 spring crafts for even more spring crafting projects kids can make!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Rainbow Craft

To make this coffee filter rainbow craft, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. See our Disclosure Policy for details.)

• One White basket coffee filter
• Child-safe scissors
• Construction paper
• Glue stick
• Crayons
• Cotton balls

To start, you’ll need to cut the bottom fourth off of the filter. You want to make the bottom level.

Like so. It’s always good to cut a little less than you think you need and then adjust as needed. If you want the kids to do this on their own, you can fold the part that you want them to cut down so that they can use child-safe scissors to follow the cutting line.

Then use the scissors to cut out a half-circle from the center. It’s tempting to just cut the entire middle circle out, but that might not leave the kids with enough space to add all the colors of the rainbow. So try to cut a smaller half-circle than you see.

Then use the glue stick to glue the cut coffee filter onto the upper center of a piece of blue construction paper.

This project is a great time to talk about the colors of the rainbow. In this craft, we decided to keep our colors in the order they actually appear in the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

A simple way to help kids remember this is to use the acronym below:

R – red

O – orange

Y – yellow

G – green

B – blue

I – indigo

V – violet

Let the kids start coloring a squiggle line with each crayon color to make their rainbow colors. They can make circles, they can color solid lines, or they can use any other drawing shape they like!

Once the colors are done, it’s time to add some clouds!

Use the glue stick to spread glue onto the bottom of each side of the rainbow arc. Place three cotton balls at one end of the arc and press lightly.

Do the same on the other side. You might want to hold up the picture to make sure the cotton balls are glued on completely.

Then just draw a few other clouds in the background.

And you’re done!

It’s neat to make this craft in traditional rainbow colors, but you can always let the kids come up with their own color schemes! A pink background with a rainbow made of neutral colors actually sounds pretty neat too. See how creative the kids can be!

Don’t miss these other fun rainbow learning ideas!

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See more fun spring crafts and lessons on my Spring Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

We live in Georgia. So if we want to experience real winter weather, we usually have to travel pretty far north. Naturally, there was no way we would ever see penguins in their natural habitat.

But we did get to visit the Georgia Aquarium a few years back and when we stopped at the penguin exhibit, we got to see them running around, diving into the water, shooting through the water like rockets, and more. It turns out that penguins are pretty entertaining.

We’ve gotten to make a few animals as part of our coffee filter crafts for kids series. Now that winter is here, we had to add a coffee filter penguin craft to the mix! Read on to see how you can make one with your kids too!

When you finish making this, add more of our winter-themed coffee filter craft projects! You can make a coffee filter moose craft or a jolly coffee filter snowman too!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Penguin Craft

To make this coffee filter penguin craft, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links provided for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

• One White basket coffee filter
• Crayons
• Glue stick
• Construction paper
• Child-safe scissors

Start by gluing the coffee filter in the center of the construction paper. After that, use a black crayon to draw two indented lines toward the top of the filter. (You’re outlining the white part of the penguin’s face.)

Color the spaces on either side of those lines black.

Like so.

Our penguin is pretty sleepy, so we drew it with eyes closed.

What long eyelashes you have, penguin! (Actually, it kind of looks like a ninja at the moment.)

Then we used the safety scissors to cut a triangle out of orange construction paper. Then we glued it in the center to form the beak.

Finally, we added a few falling snow flurries in the background.

At this point, you could really be finished. But we wanted to make our penguin into a lady bird.

So we gave her two blush circles on her cheeks out of pink construction paper. Isn’t she lovely?

Love this craft? Try these other simple projects for kids!

See even more cute crafts on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

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We live in the Deep South. Which means that winter is kind of a one-week deal.

We do get cold weather and the occasional snow flurry, but for the most part, actual snow and ice winter only occurs every once in a while.

The few times we’ve had snow have been newsworthy affairs. The kids will just sit in front of the window and watch in amazement as it falls.

So they’ve never had the chance to make a real snowman in the yard.

But we still wanted to get into the wintery spirit, so we’re sharing a new one of our coffee filter crafts for kids – a coffee filter snowman craft!

This is such a fun and quick winter craft for the kids to do this year!

Read on to see how to make it at home!

Take the snowman theme further with our list of 15 fun snowman books for kids to read!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Snowman Craft

To make this coffee filter snowman craft, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are listed below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

• White basket coffee filter
• Construction paper
• Glue stick
• Crayons
• Child-safe scissors

We went with blue construction paper for the background.

The black and orange pieces of construction paper are for making the snowman’s face.

Start by gluing the coffee filter onto the center of the construction paper. We put ours toward the bottom of the center.

Then use a black crayon or a black marker to draw two eyes in the upper center of the filter.

Cut out a carrot-shaped piece of orange construction paper. Glue it in the center of the filter to make the snowman’s “nose”.

Cut out four or five rough circles of black construction paper to form pieces of “coal”.

Arrange them in a semi-circle and then glue them down to make the snowman’s “mouth”.

Time to add the top hat!

Cut out a rectangular piece of black construction paper and glue it directly on the top of the coffee filter.

Then add a narrow rectangle of black construction paper to the bottom of the hat to form the brim.

Finally, use a white crayon to add a few “snowflakes” falling in the background and you’re done!

Kids might want to add their own twists to this craft by decorating the snowman’s hat, drawing a winter scene in the background, or giving him different colored eyes.

You could even add long eyelashes and long hair to make a “snowwoman”!

Watch me make this craft in the video below!

Winter Themed Preschool Activity Calendar

Did you enjoy this coffee filter snowman craft? Add even more snowman-themed fun to your early lessons with this printable preschool winter activity calendar!

Use the web-linked versions to get instructions for each of the themed activities.

Perfect for planning winter lessons for early learners!

Don’t miss these other fun winter craft ideas for kids!

Growing up, we had a little toy poodle named Misty. She was grey all over and my mother, who was a dog groomer, always cut her hair so that she’d have a little puff at the top of her head. She usually wore a blue collar.

Our kids have only asked for a pet a few times so far (thankfully), and I’ve managed to divert them each time. I am so not ready to have a pet and four children right now.

But when we got ready to make a new one of our coffee filter crafts for kids, I was totally open to making a coffee filter dog craft. See how we did it below!

If your kids enjoy this project, try some of our other animal coffee filter crafts, including our coffee filter owl, coffee filter cat, and coffee filter moose!

Coffee Filter Crafts for Kids: Coffee Filter Dog Craft

To make this coffee filter dog craft, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

• White basket coffee filter
• Construction paper
• Glue stick
• Crayons
• Washable markers

I went with a blue construction paper background because it makes it easier for the colors to stand out. But you can use any color you like.

Start by using a black crayon to draw two eyes in the top center of the coffee filter.

Add a light brown circle over one eye (to make a spot) and then color the rest of the coffee filter dark brown.

Color both areas in completely.

Now add an upside down triangle for the nose.

Draw a mouth by making two curved lines that come down from the nose in either direction.

Now it’s time to add some ears! We drew two floppy ears in brown crayon and then colored them in with a brown marker.

Then we decided to add a few whisker freckles on each cheek.

And a few bones for the background and we’re done!

This was a fun and simple craft that only took a few minutes. Plus, it’d be a great fit for a unit about dogs, pets, or even family (if you have a pet).

Try some of these other easy crafts for kids!

Get more fun craft ideas on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

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