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!