As you may have noticed from previous posts, I really like melting to stuff, particularly crayons. This process art was something we decided to do to add to the community caterpillar that is growing outside our school bit it was so much fun and the results were so pretty that I’m planning on decorating more rocks with melted crayon for our garden. This activity involves very hot rocks so isn’t suitable for young children, a sensible 6 year old could probably do it but it will of course depend on the child.
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What you Need to Decorate Rocks with Melted Crayon
- Smooth Rocks – We have lots in our garden but you can buy them from the garden centre or just find smooth stones when you’re out and about
- Crayons – Any crayons* will do, this is a great way to use those ones they give you free in restaurants
- A Baking Tray – It didn’t damage mine at all but probably best not to use your favourite
- An Oven – Although you could probably get them hot enough to melt crayon slowly by leaving them in the sun on a hot day
- Some Tin Foil – To protect the surface you’re working on
- Tongs or a large Spoon – Too move the hot rocks with
Preparing the Rocks
You want to rocks to be clean so give them a wash if you need to but don’t soak them or use rocks that are already water logged as apparently they can explode in the oven. Heat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius (Gas Mark 6). Put the rocks on the baking tray and put them in the oven for around ten minutes.
When they come out they will be very hot. Give everyone taking part a piece of tin foil and then place a rock each on the tin foil. Use either tongues, a big spoon or oven gloves to move the hot rocks. It’s best to just work on one rock at a time. You can put the rest back in the oven, turned down to 100 degrees Celsius, until they are needed. Remind the children (multiple times!) that the rocks are hot so they mustn’t touch them.
Using the Crayons on the Hot Rocks
You can now start decorating rocks with melted crayon. Simply press the crayon against the rock and it will start to melt on contact.
We did some rainbow patterns and the kids also did some faces. My favourite results were the ones using a white crayon and a coloured crayon to make a swirled design.
The rocks will take a good few hours to cool down, by which time the crayon will have solidified. They don’t change dramatically as they dry so your designs will stay pretty much the same. One of the benefits of this method is, unlike painted rocks, the crayon won’t wash off in the rain so there is no need varnish them.
If you go fancy trying some other melted crayon art, check out our Easter Cards (which you could make for any occasion) and our tree ornaments.
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