Core Skills Analysis
Art
Lily explored process art by choosing crayons in the colours she wanted and arranging them in order before creating her melted-crayon picture. She practiced making artistic decisions about colour placement, and she learned how materials can change when heat is applied, turning crayons into flowing lines and shapes. By using old cardboard and crayons that were no longer in use, Lily also experienced how artists can reuse materials to make something new. She showed control and patience when she decided when the artwork looked just right and stopped the blower at the right time.
Tips
To extend Lily’s learning, invite her to make another crayon-melt design with a different colour pattern, such as warm colours, cool colours, or a rainbow, and talk about how the choice changes the final look. She could compare what happened when crayons were placed close together versus farther apart, helping her notice how heat moves the wax. Try a reuse art challenge with other saved materials, like paper scraps or cardboard shapes, so she can keep building the idea that everyday items can become art. You could also ask Lily to describe which part of the process was easiest or most surprising, encouraging reflection on her creative choices and self-control.
Book Recommendations
- The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt: A playful story that celebrates crayons, color, and creative thinking.
- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson: A classic picture book about using one crayon to imagine and create a world.
- Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg: An encouraging book that shows how mistakes and scraps can become art.
Learning Standards
- Art: Lily used colour choice, arrangement, and process-based decision-making to create visual art, showing awareness of line, colour, and composition.
- Science: She observed that heat from the blow dryer changed the crayons from solid to melted wax, connecting to cause and effect and changes in materials.
- Mathematics: She placed crayons in order, which involved sorting, sequencing, and comparing positions.
- Environmental Awareness / Sustainability: She reused old cardboard and unused crayons, showing how materials can be repurposed to reduce waste.
- Canadian Curriculum (Art): The activity aligns with creative expression and experimenting with materials, including making and responding to visual art through personal choices.
- Canadian Curriculum (Science): The activity supports exploring material properties and how heat affects objects, matching early investigation of changes in materials.
Try This Next
- Draw and label the colour order Lily used in her crayon art.
- Ask: What changed when the blow dryer warmed the crayons?
- Create a before-and-after sketch of the cardboard and the finished art.