Mad Hot Crayons

Here is a really cool crayon art project for you.

I first heard about this from my good friend, Roo Roo (thanks Roo!)

Then stumbled upon this idea again a couple of months ago while I was looking for a fun arts and crafts activity to do with the kids (although I decided not to do it with my students just because it is messy and I couldn't imagine blow drying 31 art works... instead, I decided to make a little something something for my room).

This project can be EASILY adapted for ANY age!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

- 2 boxes of NEW OR OLD crayons (I used ROSEART crayons but I wonder if a better brand will give you better results?)

- A blank canvas (any size depending on how large you want your art work to be)

-Glue gun (every artist needs one of these bad boys)

-Blow dryer

-Black marker OR black paint

STEPS FOR MAD HOT CRAYONS

1) First, decide if you want a background picture on your canvas. I decided on something sentimental... maybe it's all the Valentines day advertisements I've been seeing but this was what I was inspired to draw. :) I did a quick sketch on my canvas using a pencil.

2) Next, fill in your background picture with a black medium. I used BLACK acrylic paint but I'm sure you can use a black sharpie. 

3) Glue gun a row of crayons (with the tip facing down) on to the top of the canvas.

4) Find a place where you can stand you canvas up and blow dry (make sure you COVER your workspace because it will get messy!)

5) Take a blow dryer and blow dry the crayons on high heat (about 4 inches away from canvas) with the mouth of the dryer facing down so that the crayons will melt down towards the bottom of the canvas. You will see that you can easily maneuver the direction in which the crayons melt. 

6) Stop blow drying when you are happy with your melted crayons. Let it stand and dry for about 20 minutes. 

7) Enjoy your MAD HOT CRAYONS! 

I hope this inspires you to go a little crayon-zy! 

Stick 'Em Up!! (or into the envelope...)

Every Friday, in our (yes, our because it's me and my co-teacher's) classroom we have FUN FRIDAY. What exactly is Fun Friday? Well, it's exactly what the name suggests. We devote a period of instruction on Fridays to something different such as arts and crafts and other things we don't normally get to do during the week. Our children REALLY look forward to this time on Friday and me and my co-teacher are constantly looking for activities to do with our students. Anyways, I will share my favorite Fun Friday activity so far this year....

It all started around Valentine's day, with my co-teacher talking about the abundant amount of post its we have in our classroom. Post its are part of the 3rd grade supply list. However, over the years my co-teacher has collected a whole box of them which was sitting on top of our closet collecting dust. This is when I started to think about an activity that would incorporate post its and be worth while for our students.

We decided to have a week of "SAY SOMETHING NICE TO YOUR CLASSMATES, TEACHERS, & SNOWBALL, ON A POST IT AND STICK EM' INTO THEIR ENVELOPES." The whole idea was to write nice sayings, compliments, or notes to one another everyday for an entire week. In order to do this, we first had to create and decorate our mailboxes AKA white envelopes.

We spent a period decorating and individualizing our envelopes and designated a spot in the back of the room to hang up our mailboxes. It was really adorable how each child was able to put a little bit of him/herself on to the envelope (see below).


Now the waiting game began as we spent an entire week writing post its to one another. We allowed the students to write post its if they finished their classwork early and also at the end of the day. My co-teacher and I also got a chance to write a note to each and everyone of our twenty-five students. Each day, every child's envelope began to fill up. However, we did notice that some students were not getting as many post it notes as others so by Wednesday for homework, we assigned each student to write a note to someone they don't know very well or haven't written a note to yet. This solved the problem and by Friday, each student had collected a minimum of 6-7 notes! On the last day which was Friday, we all took our envelopes off the wall and read through our notes. Even as a teacher, I felt a rush of excitement and joy as I read through each and every one of their SWEET little notes.

In order to help preserve our notes, we gave each student a piece of red construction paper. We glued down our envelopes and post its and made a collage. Here are the finished products! We are happy to say that along with the students we thoroughly enjoyed this activity and some of the notes made me want to tear. It just showed me how much our students have grown and matured with one another and how genuine they are!


P.S. Snowball had an envelope too and needless to say, Ms. Popular Bunny Rabbit received the most notes.... her envelope almost fell off the wall... hahaha.