Easy Coffee Filter Apple Craft for Kids

There are few things we love more than pairing a good seasonal book with a simple craft.

For apple season, we pulled out Secrets of the Apple Tree and made these easy coffee filter apples afterward. The craft only takes a few basic supplies, and kids get to watch the marker colors blend together when they spray the coffee filter with water, which is half the fun.

It’s an easy little activity for a fall afternoon, preschool apple theme, or something to do after a trip to the apple orchard.

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Start With the book Secrets of the Apple Tree

Secrets of the Apple Tree by Carron Brown is part of the Shine-a-Light series, and it’s such a fun book to pull out during apple season.

As you read, you can shine a flashlight behind the pages to reveal the animals and other little surprises hiding around the apple tree. It gives kids a peek at everything happening above and below the ground, from the roots to the branches.

After reading, make your own apple with this simple coffee filter craft.

Coffee Filter Apple Craft

Supplies

White basket-style coffee filters
Red and green washable markers
Spray bottle filled with water
Black construction paper
Green construction paper
Glue stick
Scissors
Black marker
Secrets of the Apple Tree by Carron Brown

How to Make a Coffee Filter Apple

1. Color the coffee filter.
Flatten out a coffee filter and let your child color all over it with red marker. It doesn’t need to be completely covered, the water will help spread and blend the color.

2. Add a little green.
Add a few touches of green if you’d like your apple to have that slightly mottled look of a real apple.

3. Spray it with water.
Place the coffee filter on a protected surface and lightly mist it with water. Watch as the marker begins to bleed and blend across the filter.

This is the fun part, but don’t completely soak it. A little water goes a long way.

4. Let it dry.
Set the coffee filter aside until it is completely dry.

5. Cut out the apple.
Once dry, cut the coffee filter into a simple apple shape.

6. Add the details.
Glue the apple onto black construction paper and cut around it, leaving a small black border. Cut a leaf from green construction paper and glue it to the top.

Finish by drawing a few little black apple seeds in the center.

And that’s it! A very cute apple craft without a giant list of supplies or complicated steps.

Make It a Little Apple Afternoon

You could easily turn this into a simple apple-themed afternoon with your kids:

Read Secrets of the Apple Tree, make your coffee filter apples, cut open a real apple to look at the seeds inside, and have apple slices for a snack.

Or pair it with our easy Instant Pot applesauce and make a batch together afterward.

A book, a craft, and something yummy to eat. That’s our kind of kids’ activity.

X.o.
The Threads Between Sisters

Take a look at all our favorite books for apple season HERE!

If your kids love this one, our coffee filter leaf garland uses the same technique.