1. Make a pot of your favorite coffee. Caffeine is a necessity when starting any project with a toddler.
2. Gather your supplies. Coffee filters, washable paint, brushes and a cup of water. Make sure you have a few filters because if your kid is anything like mine, you will be making not only a pumpkin, but a mash up of every color in her paint set.
I changed my daughter into her art shirt. The one that my mother bought for her thinking it would fit. A woman's size medium. Although she looked like one of those before and after weight loss commercials, she was ready to start painting her pumpkins.
3. Dip your paintbrush in the orange paint and then a quick dip into your water. The goal is to get a consistency that will bleed onto the filter to create a semi-transparent finish on your filter. Good opportunity to explain that mixing those colors will create another shade of orange! After a few dabs, she started asking for other colors, so I gave her a second filter to paint. Coincidentally she chose some other Halloween colors. Green, purple, orange, black and white.
4. Let the filters dry. Use a marker or paint to color on the pumpkin's face. Add a construction paper (or painted) brown stem. Voila! You have now completed probably one of the easiest toddler crafts out there!
5. If you're as proud of your kid's artwork as I am, you'll tape those filters up in your window!
6. Drink another cup of coffee to celebrate.