Upcycle Crayons Using the Sun

It feels like we had a very fast spring here in Arkansas and like it is almost warm enough to call it summer more than a month early. It’s probably not really warm enough to do this experiment, but it might be fun to try it every couple of weeks and see when it is finally hot enough to melt crayons with the sun.

Muddy Boots and Diamonds used the power of the sun to recycle crayons into different melted shapes. If you have silicone molds of different shapes you can use them for this project, too (I have a set of alphabet letters I have used to make upcycled crayons, but I used the oven.

It might be fun to turn this into a science experiment where you ask kids if they think the sun can melt crayons and to test out different places where the crayons might melt more or less quickly: in full sun versus shade, inside a car or under a glass versus on a windowsill, for example.

Have you ever melted crayons in the sun? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Muddy Boots and Diamonds.]

Check out our Online store for special buys on Educational gifts We find bulk items and end-of-stock supplies to bring you heavily discounted items. (make sure you check our store often so you don’t miss out on new stock). We also have some free printable files, including a Science PDF for learning about Microscopes.

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Summer Activity Printables for Kids

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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