Materials
Red, yellow, and blue food coloring
Water
Small paper cups
Spoon or stirring straw
Paper coffee filters
Green construction paper
Scissors
Stapler
Instructions
What to do
1. Ahead of time, mix food coloring and water in paper cups, keeping the colors separate.
2. Distribute the coffee filters and show the children how to fold their filter in half three times. The
filter should be folded into eighths when they are finished.
3. Invite the children to dip the point of the filter into one of the colors, then watch the liquid
color spread up the paper. Encourage the children to dip the filter's other corners and edges
into different colors. The colors will blend and form new colors.
4. When they are finished, have the children gently unfold their filter and let it dry.
5. While the filters are drying, hand out the scissors and construction paper.
6. Help the children cut leaves and stems from the paper. Attach them to the dye-dip flowers with
a stapler.
More to do
Circle time: Talk about which secondary colors were created when the red, blue, and yellow dyes
blended together. Use color transparencies or colored cellophane to demonstrate.
Gardening: Bring in packets of flower seed and sort by color, then plant in separate containers.
Language: Have the children dictate a story or sentence about their flower as you write it down,
then mat their papers on dye-dipped paper towels.
More art: Attach string to the dye-dip flowers and hang as ornaments. Use paper towels or napkins
instead of filters and make gift wrap. Bring fresh flowers to class and make a colorful, threedimensional
chart on poster paper, classifying the flowers by color.
Outdoors: Go for a walk and find flowers of different colors.
