Crayons and More!
Below are activities that all have a Colorful theme. These activities include things that will help your child develop fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving and engineering skills, and can help them engage in cooperative play, while fostering creativity and perseverance. Each theme also comes with recommended literature and movie connections. Feel free to throw in your own activities that might relate, and don’t forget to post your results to social media and tag @discoverymuse to share with everyone else!
Art Activity/Fine Motor Activity I – Crayon Stained Glass
For this activity, you’ll need to collect some unwrapped crayons, a vegetable peeler or pencil sharpener, wax paper, ironing board and iron.
Directions
- Prep a piece of wax paper by folding it in half. Open the fold and lay it out.
- Use the vegetable peeler or pencil sharpener to create crayon flakes to pile on the flakes. This is a great fine motor skill to work on dexterity, as well as practice in patience!
- Refold the wax paper.
- Gently press the iron on the wax paper, picking up to move it along the paper.
- As the flakes melt they will blend together.
- When you are finished and the paper has cooled, you can use them to create cool “stained glass” elements for your window!
Art Activity/Fine Motor Activity II – New Life for Broken Crayons
For this activity, you’ll need an assortment of unwrapped crayons, muffing tin, muffin papers or silicone mold, and an oven.
Directions
- Turn the oven on to 350ºF
- Place the muffin papers in the muffin tins.
- Break or cut the crayons into small chunks. Plop the crayon chunks into the muffin tin. Create fun combos. Do a few with primary colors (red, yellow, blue), secondary colors (orange, green, purple), use warm colors (red, orange, yellow) cool colors (blue, green, purple), or keep it all in the same color family.
- Set the muffin tin in the oven and allow them to melt. It may take 10-20 minutes depending on how full the tins are.
- Carefully remove the muffin tin and allow to cool before removing the crayons.
- Enjoy coloring with your new crayons!
Science Experiment I – Crayon Play-Dough
Let’s experiment with solids, liquids, and melting! Not everything has a melting point, but we’re certain you’ve had experience with a melted crayon or two before! We’re going to observe the melting and solidifying of crayons with this nifty little activity – and wind up with some great fine motor play, too!
Ingredients for DIY Crayon Play-Doh:
1 Tbsp Vegetable oil
2.5 crayons, cut up
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup salt
1 Tbsp cream of tartar
Directions:
- Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl.
- In a pan over low/medium heat combine your vegetable oil and crayons. Continue to stir gently until the crayons melt. Slowly add in 1 cup of water and stir.
- Slowly add in your dry ingredients to the mixture and continue to stir as well as you can.
- Turn out onto the counter (or parchment paper) and knead when it cools a bit. Tada! Play-doh!
Science Experiment II – Secret Messages
Act like a secret agent. Use some white crayons on white paper to create secret messages. Use watercolors to paint over the page! The wax of the crayon resists the watercolor and exposes the secret message.
Physical Activity – Color a Rock N’ Walk
Get some of those wiggles out while learning a little about melting and kindness. This activity will require an oven, a tray with aluminum foil, rocks and crayons.
- Place aluminum foil on the tray.
- Heat rocks in the oven on the tray.
- Carefully remove rocks, one at a time and place on a towel or plate.
- Use crayons to decorate the hot rocks, being careful not to touch them with bare fingers. The wax will melt as long as the rock is hot enough.
- When all the rocks are finished, take a walk in your neighborhood and leave them in places for others to find, or place them near doorsteps of friends to brighten someone else’s day!
Conversation Starters and Research Questions
- What pictures do you like to color the most?
- What media do you like to use to make pictures? Crayons, pencils, paint, chalk?
- Who else in your family likes to color? What do they like to color?
- If you could create a new color, what would it be and what would you name it?
Videos and Websites
- Song: Crayola Doesn’t Make a Color – https://youtu.be/EELEjeYzfjM
- How it’s Made: https://youtu.be/lmiRjmbnn8Q
- Mr. Rogers How Crayons are Made: https://youtu.be/FszGkMqAF0c
- History of Crayola Crayons https://youtu.be/0Nzhcfy8AQw
Movie/Literature Connection:
Because we know you’re stuck at home with limited access to movies and books, we tried to compile a list that connects to today’s theme that you might already have in your collection or be able to access online. These include:
Movies: The Hero of Color City
Books:
The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt https://drive.google.com/open?id=1m1EROtlGweYEwtjbYO_kFTy8_xRY-Lut
The Day Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt https://youtu.be/hH9WXSoBX5w
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson https://youtu.be/yl94zwz8cKU
A Bad Day at Riverbend by Chris Van Allsburg https://youtu.be/_Q-Mw8s4DJg
How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow by Monica Sweeney https://youtu.be/p3KRvHbo8yw
Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall https://youtu.be/54OcRon2iKU
The Crayon Man by Natascha Biebow
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