March 22, 2010

Messy Monday – New/Old Crayons

https://asoftplace.net/2010/03/diy-day-with-sodderbug-photo-charms/Have you melted down crayons with your kids? There are a million ways to do it, it’s easy and it’s all over the place. Try it. You and your kids will love it. Here’s how I make them with my kids. The way that I make them has an art teacher twist.

Separate broken, worn down crayons into three categories (warm colors, cool colors, neutrals) – this in and of itself is a great learning opportunity for preschoolers. Learning to differentiate warm, cool, and neutral colors is a great sorting activity. Try the color sorting with markers and colored pencils too – it can be a fun clean-up activity.
Peel papers from crayons – I used my utility knife and made a cut on each crayon and then my kiddos peeled the paper off – this was a very quiet and concentrated activity. I might have to have them peel crayons more often. The only downfall is that my two year old thinks that all crayons need to be peeled now.

Break the crayons into pieces, keeping them in the three piles – warm (reds, oranges, yellows), cool (greens, blues, violets), and neutral (browns, black and greys and whites) colors.

Spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick vegetable spray and put the crayons in the muffin cups.

Place the muffin tin in a 275 degree oven for 7 or 8 minutes. Cool on the counter for a couple of minutes and then put the muffin tin in the freezer to ease them out of the pan.

Color away!
 
I am linking this post up to DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land and Get Your Craft On Tuesday at Today’s Creative Blog.