Melting Crayon Art

As I was browsing pinterest yesterday I came across an interesting looking picture of a little girl holding a hair dryer over a piece of color-splattered paper labeled Process Art with Kids: Blow Paint with Hair Dryers.

I was intrigued. When I clicked on it, it led me to a website overflowing with fun ideas for preschoolers!! Jackpot! ChildCentralStation.com This really fun lady and her husband have a group home daycare in Michigan and are simply exploding with creativity. Huzzah! They also have a Facebook page!

Anyway...

I felt the need to expose MY kids to this crazy melted crayon idea. By 'My kids' I mean all the children that come spend time with me at my house, obviously. They are mine to nurture for a few hours anyway :)

So yesterday I spent some time peeling the paper off of old crayons and as soon as breakfast was over today I called everyone to the kitchen table where I had gathered a baking dish, card stock, flat head screwdriver, 'naked' crayons and a hair dyer. 

I folded the paper up to fit in the dish, which also helped to keep the wax on the paper. For the first couple crayons we held them with the screwdriver while holding the hair dryer very close to them. It only took about 30 seconds for the crayon to start melting.

It was soon apparent that holding a melting crayon down while it was being blasted with hot air was both difficult and uncomfortable because of the heat. 

So we started using a small bit of glue from a glue stick to hold the crayon and used the screwdriver for scratching the wax instead.

 After we had explored the reasons why it melts and the basic components of crayons, we were able to discuss the air currents.

 Even though the corners where slightly raised the wax kept pooling in them because that is the way the air was pushing.

We also got the wax to mix and create new colors.

So, did I have to spend some time scraping wax from my dish, the table, screwdriver and hair dryer? Of course.

Was it worth it because of the hour and a half of fun, learning, creativity and excitement? Absolutely!