melt some crayons

I know, I know. There are all sorts of cool posts all over the place about awesome melty crayon canvases. This project is one that came about after I was working on making some new crayons. It is simple, fairly open ended and looks pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

Materials

*sturdy paperplates

*assorted crayon bits and pieces

*hot plate or cast iron skillet

*foil

*small metal containers or cans

*thin gloves (optional)

 

Place crayon pieces in a small metal container or can and set on a hot plate or cast iron skillet. Turn on low and allow crayons to melt. I would recommend placing a sheet of tinfoil under your container to catch drippy crayon bits. I didn't think of this until after I had already spilled wax all over my skillet. Yikes!

Once crayon bits are all melty, remove from warm surface, the container should not be too hot to handle but if it is warm, have your kiddos wear thin gloves when they handle the can/container. Our skillet retained enough heat that we could turn it off and it would still melt the crayons.

 

On a protected surface, have your kiddo tilt, spill and dribble their melted crayon onto their paper plate. It is important to use sturdy paper plates, think cardboard sturdy. They can dump the whole shebang onto their plate then pick up their plate tilting it however they please. If you think the container will be too hot, pour the melted crayon onto your kiddos plate yourself. You know what will work best with your child.

Continue with other crayon colors and talk to your kiddo about how the wax hardens as it cools. Do the colors mix? Will the wax remain wet? Do you see shapes in your picture?

Once finished, tape a paperclip to the back and hang in a happy place!

herein lies the (new) rub: a boredom buster!

You're stranded at home, the baby's asleep and your preschooler begins the "I'm Bored!" chant. Here's a new way with play dough or homemade play clay (checkout the CRAFTzine blog for a perfect recipe.) that will maybe, just maybe bust those boredom blues. Have a batch of homemade play dough in the fridge that might possibly be getting too old? Use it as an anchor for an assortment of household objects and make these nifty crayon rubbings.

You will need:
*play clay
*rolling pin
*semi-flat found objects like washers, bottle caps, etc.
*crayons without their wrappers
*paper (scrap paper is perfect)

scrumdilly-do it!

Set up your work area with splat mat, dough, crayons, paper and found objects.Roll out your clay/dough dough to a good sized flat blob.Have your wee ones play with their found objects by pressing them into the clay. Your found objects should be no thicker than the dough you rolled out.When they are happy with their arrangement, place a sheet of paper over the art (we used the backside of printed paper we no longer needed) and tape at the corners to anchor it down.Using the flat side of the crayon, have your kidlet rub the crayon back and forth over the paper to create a rubbing. Use more than one color for variety.You can even arrange your objects to look like a creature or robot. Cut cardboard from old food boxes into robot like shapes for a robot making factory. Use up all your scrap paper and make your own Robot Parade. Even better, play this song while you're at it!
Stay tuned for another take on this method...I've got two more ways with play clay that are easy to do in a pinch!

Make crayons seems new!

Have a bored kidlet and nothing exciting to put together for fun? Pull out the neglected old crayons and entice them into some waxy fun!


What you need:
*crayons
*paper
*masking tape or rubber bands
scrumdilly-do it!

Set out your paper for your wee ones to draw on and bundle up the crayons in groups of 2 and/or 3 using masking tape or a rubber band. Using the classic ice-cream cone grip, have your kidlets scribble away not with one, but two or more crayons at a time! Enthusiastically tell them how exciting their scribbles are, point out the multiple lines and let them see how many crayons they can bundle up and draw with.

The fun may not last for too long but it just may be enough time for you to get a meal ready or a phone call made!

In the states, now is the perfect time to stock up on crayons what with back to school and all that happening.

Black Magic...

The crayon kind!

 Do remember breaking all your crayons in an attempt to make a black magic picture? Do you remember how your arm got soooo sore scribbling back and forth as hard you could muster? Do you remember just how awesome your final picture looked? It made all that hard work worth it! Now it is time to clue your kidlets in, the scrumdilly-do way!

What you need:

*crayons

*light colored cardboard or card stock

*sponges or sponge brushes

*black or dark acrylic paint

*mess happy clothes

*covered work surface

*toothpicks or chopsticks

scrumdilly-do it!

 

 Set up your workspace and give each kidlet a piece of card stock or two. Dump out those crayons and encourage your kidlets to cover their paper with as much crayon as possible. The darker the crayon the better, and the less waxy the crayon the better. This is where crayola brand really shines but any brand will do. The key is to cover so encourage your wee ones to make patterns, not pictures. Ask questions about their favorite colors. I once had a wee one cover their cardboard in all the green crayons he could find. It made for a super nifty etching.

 

 

 

 

 Once their papers are covered, squeeze a bit of paint either onto the surface or in a paint tray, cup, bowl or cupcake liner. Now it is time to paint over all that hard work. Acrylic paints work best as they are pretty thick. You want a thick layer of paint to cover the crayon. Having more than one crayon-covered piece to work on will help with the wait. Your kidlets can paint one at a time and move onto a second coat seemingly sooner than if making only one black magic sheet. The acrylic dries enough pretty quick so go ahead and slap on another coat of paint. Once all sheets are painted, set aside for a thorough drying, about 15 minutes. Try using other colors, not just black. A darker paint of course will have more impact.

 

 

 

 Once your sheets are dry, it is time for the etching fun to begin. Pass out toothpicks or chopsticks or knitting needles even, if your wee ones know not to use them as swords or weapons of mass destruction. Direct your kidlets to scratch away at the layer of paint to reveal all that swoony color underneath. Have fun! You may want to spend some time decorating the toothpicks while they wait for their boards to dry. Pass out some scissors, colored paper or felt and glue. Cut out crazy fun shapes and images to glue to the tops of the toothpicks and viola, a fancy, schmancy etching tool is created!

 If you find yourself up with nothing to do, you may want to prep a bunch of boards to pull out when you need something fast. These are great for the car, super market and doctor’s visits. Toss a bunch of boards into a bag along with a couple of toothpicks and you are ready to dazzle!

lurvely crayons

 You've seen them before, the only difference is they're heart shaped. I picked up a trio of soft ice-cube molds from Target and thought I'd use one to make some melty crayons for a couple of kidlets I know. I hadn't made these in a decade and I have to say the color combose delighted me and the heart shapes are oh so sweet! These sat in a 250 degree oven for about 15 minutes. I checked a lot to make sure all was well...

 

 

 More crayon melting fun: 

Crayon Jars

Crayola Crayon Factory

swirly stones

stained glass