Create your own alphabet of crayons for a fun gift for preschoolers and a sneaky way to practise some early literacy skills at the same time!
These beautiful, rainbow alphabet crayons are straightforward to make and there’s some fun science to learn during the process too! Children helping out can watch the transformation from solid pieces, to melted liquid, which then solidifies again to form new shapes, and it all happens very quickly so it’s satisfying for inquisitive young minds!
- colourful, old, broken up crayons (or a couple of boxes of cheap crayons)
- ABC ice trays
- an oven set to about 150 degrees C (300 F)
When the crayons have melted completely, bring them out and leave them to cool down. You could get your child to predict what will have happened to the little pieces and what may have happened to the colours. Have they mixed together? Will the letters be solid or liquid?
When they are completely cool, carefully push them out of the tray taking care not to break any parts off. Some of the letters are more tricky than others and we did have a couple of casualties!
Then go ahead and give them to your little ones to draw and mark-make with!
You could play all sorts of playful literacy games such as:
- can you find the letters from your name?
- which crayon shows the sound at the beginning of the word “cat”?
- can you match the crayons to this little word? (spell a simple, 3 letter word on card)
- if you make 2 sets you can ask them to match the letters together in an I-spy snap game
- can you find the P crayon and draw as many things that start with the P sound as you can?
oooh these are fab. I’m going to make some for Christmas presents. xx
Oooh Anna, love these. Love the multiple colours you can draw in (Red Ted would like that!!) Great way to practice some words too.
Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
These are too much fun!! What a great idea for a birthday gift and / or favor. Love it Love it!
I cannot get the S or N out without breaking for the life of me, any tips?
I can’t wait to try this one! Thanks
Help. Make two lots and both sunk in the middle. Any idea why?
I got the crayons from the pound shop. Thanks xx
These will be perfect to use in OMazing Kids! I added a link to it in my Dr. Seuss’ ABC’s blog post: http://omazingkidsllc.com/2013/02/21/big-a-little-a-a-dr-seuss-abcs-alphabet-extravaganza-kids-yoga-early-literacy/