We've had a couple of rainy days, and my youngest, chafing over the loss of her outdoor playtime, has grown restless. I've been hearing a lot of - "what can I do now?" or, "can I do a craft?"
Unfortunately, the damp cold outside, makes everything inside feel closed in, and gritty, and the last thing I have wanted to do is pull out a bunch of paints, or scatter snipped up pieces of paper all over the floor. So finally, in desperation, I pulled out an idea for no-mess rock painting, that I had saved from some craft book, or other (unfortunately, I didn't save the name of the book, with the idea).I stepped out to the yard, and picked a couple smooth rocks. I think I've mentioned before, that one of the benefits of living in the Rockies, is an abundance of rocks for craft projects.
I scrubbed them off, dried them with a towel, and drew some simple outlines on them.
Then, I gave one to C, with a couple of fresh crayons, and let her go to work.
When she had her rock colored completely, in a thick layer of crayon...
...I placed it on a tinfoil covered cookie sheet, and popped it in the oven, for a couple of minutes, at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, to melt, and blend the wax.
She really enjoyed watching this step.
I think the book had a polishing step, too. But, we just let ours cool, and called it good.
The melted crayon takes about a half hour, or more, to cool on the rocks. It's plenty of time to fit in a rainy day story, like Margaret Park Bridges' Now What Can I Do?, which offers its own suggestions for how to stay entertained on those "inside" days...."...we can start by making your bed."
"Oh, Mommy - that's not fun."
"But it can be...if your bed is a boat!"
I think you can probably see where this is going. Sometimes, being busy, is the best boredom buster out there. And, as long as your being busy, you might as well get the chores done, too.
You can find more story stretching arts, and crafts at this week's stART (story + ART) link-up, at A Mommy's Adventures.
It's great to be a homeschooler.
9 comments:
I think I read a similar idea somewhere, actually I think it was the Artful Parent - maybe, but she put the rocks in the oven on a very low temp just to warm them up and then they colored on them.
Very cool idea...your great with the oven. Coming through from stARt.
I have enjoyed reading here, but it really makes me miss homeschooling my boys when they were that age!!!
I love how the colors melt in the oven plus I am sure it adds more excitment to kids
Oh very pretty! I have seen the crayon rock melting thingy and havent dared give it a go yet, but it looks great!
Would love for you to take part in my new link up Kids Get Crafty over at Red Ted Art. Link goes up every Wednesday... current link is http://www.redtedart.com/?p=3056
Hope to see you there!
Maggy
I really envy all these smooth rocks people keep finding. We only have jagged rocks. Lots of limestone.
I remember someone doing this with the rock hot, or maybe they drew on something else hot, and thinking that's just a good way to burn your kid. This seems much better, kid won't get burned then.
What a fun project! It came out great :)
I love how your crayoned rock turned out. I am sorry that your kids are already stuck inside - I hope warm days will visit you again soon.
I like this idea a lot. What fun!
Post a Comment