Create a colourful masterpiece for your child’s room with a few crayons, a hair-dryer and little hands to guide you!

Picasso famously said “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Art is a powerful tool that lets children find their way of expressing themselves, creatively and non-verbally, long before they can communicate their feelings through words.

In the case of pre-schoolers, holding a crayon, or a paintbrush is instrumental in developing their fine motor skills and improves their hand-eye coordination, in addition to providing them with an outlet to channel their creativity.

Here is a fun craft for you and yours. It is simple, with an outcome that states otherwise! Try the Melted Crayon Art this Spring and add a burst of colour to your child’s room!

Materials needed

  • 5-7 crayons (preferably thin crayons)
  • Hot glue gun or regular glue
  • 1 black paper silhouette cut-out (print out a child’s silhouette on a sheet of paper and cut out the silhouette). Let your child select the pose.
  • 1 canvas board
  • 1 hairdryer
  • Newspaper to contain the mess
Materials to make the melted crayon art

Instructions

  1. Start by placing the paper silhouette cut-out on the canvas. This helps you to identify the position in which you would need to stick on the crayons. Do not stick the paper cut-out yet.
  2. Let your child place the crayons in the colour order that he or she prefers. Then stick the crayons on the canvas using hot glue or let your little one do it with regular glue. The crayons should fan out from the top left of the silhouette as shown in the image below.Melted crayon art - arrange crayons
  3. Once the glue dries, turn the canvas upside down, and turn on your hairdryer, such that the crayons begin melting and trickling downward, as seen in the image.

Meting crayon art - melting crayons with hairdryer

4.  Time to call in the kids again! Hand the hairdryer to your child, pointing the hot blast of air toward the bottom of the crayons. Use the hairdryer to direct the melted crayons away from the area where the silhouette will eventually be placed. Depending on the age of your child – you will have to help him or her. Adjust the position of the canvas if required.

Melting crayons art - kids melting crayons with hairdryer

5. Once the crayons have melted, let it dry for a few minutes. Get your child to now stick on the silhouette.

Crayons melting art - sticking silhouette

6. The result is a piece of art that that your child (and you) would be delighted to have!

Variations of crayon melting art you could try

You could place cut-out letters of your child’s name on the canvas board, stick these letters down and then melt crayons over the letters. Take off the letters and you will be left with a colourful name-plate for your child’s room!

Photos by Shinta Simon

Disclaimer: Opinions and methods expressed are solely of the writer. Namaste Switzerland does not undertake any obligation or liability which may arise from the content.