These coffee filter bats are a fun Halloween craft for preschoolers and kindergartners to keep kids busy while exploring color-mixing chromatography and developing fine motor skills. [Video tutorial included.]
A perfect Halloween craft, these not-so-spooky coffee filter bats are easy and fun to make for kids and adults of all ages. Additionally, this craft is relatively quick to complete, and you will likely have the necessary supplies already at home. So, grab your coffee filters to conduct this exciting chromatography experiment! With just a few simple steps, you can express your creativity by coloring a filter with watercolor markers, cutting it out to resemble a bat, and decorating a clothespin. And, ta-da! You will end up with a cute Not-So Spooky Halloween decor idea.
Easy and Fun Halloween Crafts
Get into the spooky spirit with this cute bat craft! These coffee filter bats are perfect for young kids and kids of all ages, providing a fun and creative activity that helps develop fine motor skills.
Start by using large coffee filters and let your little ones unleash their creativity with washable markers. After they’ve colored their filters in different patterns, use a spray bottle to spritz just enough water over the colors to create a tie-dye effect—be careful not to use too much water! Once the filters are dry, attach bat wings made from construction paper, add googly eyes and a clothespin for the body, and you’ve got adorable bats that will make your Halloween decorations pop.
Easy crafts are my favorite; these bats look great when they are done! Most importantly, while these coffee filter bats are fantastic for preschoolers and kindergarteners, even toddlers can get crafty with the coloring and dyeing process. At the same time, older children will enjoy decorating the clothespins, allowing them to get creative with intricate designs and beads.
Coffee Filter Bats Halloween Decoration
You can set these bats on and around your Halloween table, attach them to the wall, or hang these bats as Halloween ornaments. Alternatively, you can make a few and use twine to create a bat banner. Either way, you will add a personal touch to your interior decor design on a budget! The best part is that these coffee filter bats come out unique and look beautiful once done!
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Chromatography Science Experiment
This sensory craft is also an excellent science experiment showing how colors mix and bleed. The bat wing’s tie-dye effect is due to a Chromatography process. “Walking water” is truly a magical process that children (and adults) will become addicted to doing.
Chromatography is a technique used to separate mixtures in a liquid state. This simple coffee paper chromatography experiment is a great way to learn about this method of separating mixtures.
In chromatography, the mixture (water) passes through another substance (coffee filter), while different color ink particles travel at different speeds through the paper, allowing you to see the constituent colors of the ink.
We made quite a few of them as kids wanted to experiment with various color combinations.
You’ll Need for Coffee Filter Bats Halloween Craft:
- white coffee filters
- scissors
- water-base markers (we used Aen Art and Stabilo), but any washable marker should work, like Crayola
- a spray bottle or a dropper
- wooden clothespins
- googly eyes
- small black pom-poms (optional)
- chalk liquid marker to color the wooden peg black (optional)
- adhesive tape
- flatback rhinestones (10 mm here) ~ I used these smaller ones
You need only one coffee filter per bat. Also, stick to darker colors to achieve a darker bat-like color. Otherwise, they will look like butterflies. (There is nothing wrong with that if you want a more colorful look.)
We ended up experimenting with some pretty cool and colorful combinations, and we were quite surprised at how cute some came out!
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Instructions | How to Make Coffee Filter Bats
Coloring the Filter
First, fold the filter in half, flatten it, and draw on one side. [Stick to dark marker colors, like black, grey, purple, red, and blue, and do not leave much white space in between. The less white space you leave, the darker the bat will look when it’s finished.] Also, I suggest working on a waterproof tray or covering your space with recycled newspaper, as it really helps contain the work area and the mess and makes a clean-up much easier.
Then, turn the filter and draw identically on the other side. (Some color might bleed through already, so you just need to touch up.)
Below are some of the coloring designs we did with the kids.
Wetting the Filter
Next, use a spray bottle to carefully mist water onto the coffee filter. Ensure you spray enough water so the coffee filter is completely wet, but do not overwater. Also, do not pour water on the filter, as it might wash away the color. Everyone will enjoy observing the magic as the colors spread. After that, open the filter up and let it dry. We had a warm, sunny day, so I took it outside. If drying a filter in the sun is not an option, lay it flat on a waterproof tray or a baking sheet and let it dry for about an hour.
Cutting the Filter to Resemble a Bat
Once the coffee filter is dry, fold it in half and again in half, and then cut four curves along the filter’s edge to resemble a bat’s wing shape. See the picture below.
Lastly, unfold the coffee filter to reveal a symmetrical bat shape.
Decorating Clothespins
Finally, decorate the clothespin. You can use either adhesive crafter’s tape or a hot glue gun to attach embellishments and googly eyes to the clothespin.
Shaping the Bat
As a final touch, pinch the coffee filter in the middle (flat side up), open the clothespin, and slide it inside the coffee filter. Shape the wings as needed to make them look bat-like.
And ta-da! Your coffee filter bats are done, and you have a not-so-spooky but rather beautiful Halloween decoration!
Watch the Coffee Filter Bats Halloween Craft video tutorial below
Clothespins Embellishment Ideas
- either decorate the wooden ones (as in the video)
- or paint the clothespins with a black marker (I used liquid chalk marker)
- you can also dye clothespins in water with black food coloring by submerging them in dyed liquid for about 5 minutes)
You can also clip the clothespins onto a piece of cardboard before painting so that you can turn the cardboard without getting your hands dirty with paint.
Embellishing Clothespins
- decorate with glitter glue
- glue black pom poms
- embellish with black buttons
- add googly eyes
- add rhinestones
What is Walking Water?
Learn About Chromatography Experiments here.
Have you tried making Coffee Filter Bats as a Halloween Craft? Leave a comment if you did.
Summary
The best part of this coffee filter bat craft is its simplicity, making it accessible with basic craft supplies you probably already have at home. Older kids can experiment with creating different bat wing shapes or adding details with a black marker. Use a paintbrush to add some extra flair, or even combine this activity with making coffee filter butterflies to compare and contrast designs. The coffee filters, once colored and dried, can be folded to form the wings, while the clothespin can act as the bat’s body. Whether you use colored coffee filters or let your kids color their own, this cute Halloween craft is sure to become a family favorite!
Join The Halloween Course
For More Halloween Activities …
See here Spider Counting | Reusable-DIY Math-Board
See here Ground Beast Expired Dino Meat do Not Eat
See here for the Cereal Taste-Safe Tracing Tray
For Halloween Crafts …
See here Apple Stamping Pumpkin Craft.
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