Hot Rock Melted Crayon Art

Posted by Nicole Carney on Jul 29, 2013 in Camping, Outdoor Activities, Rock Activities | 0 comments

This is a fun and simple activity to do either on a cold/rainy day indoors or on a very hot day while camping and/or enjoying the outdoors. The only difference will be in how you heat up your rocks. If it happens to be a sweltering, sunny day, instead of turning on your oven, try letting the sun do the baking for you! When we coloured our rocks, it was a warm day with an overcast sky, so we were restricted to using the oven. I’ve been meaning to try this project while we’re out camping, to see if the sun will actually heat the rocks to a warm enough temperature- which, I’m pretty certain it will- but I keep forgetting!

Materials

clean rocks
wax crayons
oven (or a hot sunny spot) to heat your rocks
baking sheet (if laying them out in the sun I would place the rocks on a dark surface, such as black construction paper, to help soak up the sun’s rays)
parchment paper or a paper plate/ paper towels to rest the rocks on as you colour

Hot Rock Melted Crayon Art

We started by cleaning some of the rocks the boys had previously collected, and then heating the oven to 350°F. We placed the clean rocks onto a baking sheet and popped them into the preheated oven for about 10min.

When the rocks were heated, I took them out and placed the rocks onto a piece of parchment paper in front of where M was sitting (little B was having his nap). If you’re worried about the heat from the rocks damaging your table or work surface, make sure to use a paper plate or some folded pieces of paper towel. Remember to use pot holders when you are transferring the rocks! I made sure to explain to M that the rocks were very hot, and to only touch them with the crayons. I also showed him how to turn the rocks by moving the parchment paper. M was delighted to discover how the crayons just glided across the rocks, leaving a trail of glistening, melted wax as he coloured.

M really enjoyed colouring the hot rocks, and I think they turned out lovely (I love the jewel tones he chose!) :).

When he was finished colouring the rocks, M chose a special place in the garden to display them. I hope no one decides to pick them up on a warm day or else they will get melted wax all over their hands!