Crayon Drip Rain Cloud
While Ella is a bonafide crafter, I’m more of a fan of process art activities that emphasize the crafting rather than the result and engage the senses during the art-making process. This Crayon Drip Rain Cloud craft kept both of us happy on a recent rainy day, and it’s such a cute addition to our growing kids’ art collection!
I love doing process art with the kids because it really allows them to engage their creative sides – and process art doesn’t mean that the final piece has to look like a mess! Process art simply focuses more on the process of art making than the final product, ensuring that kids feel free to work abstractly and interpret the materials however they feel moved. Sometimes, yes, that does mean that the final product looks nothing like you’ve intended – but often the kids are prouder of work that they were able to be free while creating, rather than crafts that they had no real creative expression making.
The textures of the cotton, the visual & dynamic process of melting the crayons, the snapping in half of the crayons, and the contrast of using different materials all creates an engaging art process that keeps kids’ interested and makes for a gorgeous final product.
Ella had previously done a cute melted crayon art project with her aunt and she had been begging to do one again for awhile. It seemed a bit messy and possibly dangerous (all that melting wax) so I had put off doing it with her for longer than I should admit. However, the crayon melting only took a couple minutes and if done properly, it should only drip onto the surface directly below it – it shouldn’t sputter or go flying.
We originally attached the crayons to the canvas with tape (which you’ll see below) but the hair dryer dried out the tape’s adhesive quickly and the crayons fell. I re-attached them with hot glue and we were fine. The cotton cloud actually covers up the crayons they way we did our project, but you could pull them off after you’re done melting the crayons.
How to Make a Crayon Drip Rain Cloud
First, gather your materials:
- Buttons
- Crayons in different shades & tints (variations) of blue
- Strong glue (we used tape and it didn’t last long)
- Canvas
- Cotton
- School glue
- Hair dryer
First, have your child work on their fine motor skills by unwrapping the crayons from their wrappers.
Have your child show off their hand strength by snapping the crayons in half so that they will be covered by the clouds.
Attach the crayons to the top of the canvas with a strong glue and allow to dry before moving on to the melting step (see below).
Melt the crayons with the hair dryer. Experiment with holding the hair dryer at different angles to the crayons to see the different patterns and directions that the melted wax goes. If you’re not doing this on a rainy day, it would be a good activity to take outside, or at least be sure to cover your floor with newspaper.
Once the crayon wax has cooled, use the school glue to attach your “rain drop” buttons. This is probably my favourite part of the craft!
You could alternatively (or additionally) add some silver tinfoil or pipe cleaners for a lightning zigzag. Or a little flash of glitter!
We had so much fun making this beautiful process art rain cloud – are you a fan of doing process art with your kids?
Check out some of our other awesome kids’ process art ideas, like Paint Clouds Sensory Craft and Aboriginal Dot Painting.
And be sure to check out these 7 other button crafts & activities for kids from my fellow kids’ activity bloggers:
Fall Tree with Buttons – Uno Zwei Tutu
Button Bracelets – Kids Craft Room
Button Tic-Tac-Toe DiY Magnet Game – Twitchetts
Button Caterpillar – Books and Giggles
DIY Burlap Button Flower Garden Wall Art – Artsy Craftsy Mom
Button Number Match – Schooling A Monkey
Crayon Drip Rain Cloud – Sugar, Spice, & Glitter
Fall Tree Busy Bag – Views From A Step Stool
Gorgeous, this has turned out beautifully!
I have always wanted to make a melted crayon project. This looks so nice! I love your idea for adding lightning too.
Thank you!
What a cute idea! Will this work on card stock or regular paper? I would like to try this with about 18 kids but we don’t have the funds to get everyone a canvas.
I am so sorry to have missed your question – my daughter was home for the summer and I was focused on her.
Did you try cardstock? If not, I’ll be happy to try!