Valentine party favors
It’s incredible how beat up a box of crayons gets in a Y5 classroom. “I broke my crayon!” seems to be called out within seconds of our first creative endeavors in September.
I am big on recycling, so I rarely throw anything out and my home is a testimony to my pack rat behavior.
Crayons are no exception and I LOVE that I can use broken ones for a myriad of awesome art projects.
I melt them in mini muffin tins for a sweet surprise for my students treasure boxes for Open House and revisit the concept in February for Valentine’s Day.
You can imagine how thrilled I was to find Wilton’s newest metal cookie/muffin tin! PTL it was on sale 40% off. I couldn’t wait to get home and melt crayons.
Peeling is easier if you just score the wrapper with an Exacto knife. I also cut crayons into smaller pieces with a kitchen scissors.
Spray your muffin tin with Pam.
Put a variety of rainbow colors together in the same tin, or mix shades of one color together if you have a child or grandson like mine, who is simply ape over green!
Melt crayons at 250 degrees for 10 -15 minutes. All ovens are different so watch through the window.
Gently remove tray and set on stove 'til the wax solidifies. I put mine in the freezer for a few minutes so they pop right out.
I have a zillion chocolate molds for all of the seasons, as well, so today I putzed with melting crayons in the microwave.
Put a paper towel down. Put cut up crayons in a micro safe glass mug. (My handle got hot so just a head’s up.)
When my crayons were almost to the top, they melted down to ½ a mug full of liquid which only filled up ½ my chocolate molds, (depending on size) so be prepared to melt lots of crayons if you have lots of kiddo’s.
Bend the rim of a paper cup so that it has a pointy pouring spout. Pour wax from mug into paper cup.
Make sure you cover your counter top. I made a big mess, but I cleaned up with Scrubbing Bubbles. Forget ever using the mug for coffee again tho’.
Carefully pour wax into molds. The paper cup will be hot.
I experimented with making layers of different colors with deeper molds, and that looked really cool.
Bag up a few different crayons in Snack Baggies with a header that says: You COLOR my world with happiness. Happy Valentine’s Day from your teacher!
If your little ones are like mine, they will want to try them out right away, so why not set up a valentine center. Tell them to save their crayons for home and take them to their lockers, but they can use your "class set" at the valentine center.
Set up a TV tray with a few crayon cakes. Pre-cut a small, medium and large heart from old file folders. Have students place the hearts in an appealing manner on their paper and then rub around them with the crayon cake.
I added a bit more pizzazz by allowing students to punch a small, medium and large heart with metal heart punches and then glue them on the matching size hearts.
Carry it a step farther and have them label the appropriate hearts with an S, M and L. Older students can write "I love you with all of my hearts." Younger students can glue on the phrase.
Click on the link to view/download these Melted Valentine Crayon Activities.
I was surfing the net to see what other people were doing with melted crayons and one mom lays paper on a warming tray and slowly draws with the crayons 'til they melt. Even tho' she is allowing her children to do this, I still worry about getting burned, cords, and starting fires.
I wondered if a mug warmer would do the same thing, but of course I just donated mine to Goodwill, you know the saying... I did have my mini chocolate melting crockpot so I laid that on its side, put a piece of wax paper inside and then put the heart and letter down and rested the crayon on the paper 'til it melted.
I picked the papers up every now and then and let the wax puddles run and then put the paper back on the pot. I experimented with making a heart and my grandson's initials. I think they turned out super.
Do NOT do this with kids as this was even tricky for crazy me. I'm going to put contact paper over them and give them to them for a bookmark. Anyway, I had a fun afternoon and hope you enjoy these ideas for your students as well.
Finally, ever in the “What can I do with this?” mode, I looked at the big pile of really colorful crayon scraps and swirled them into a heart.
I took this picture and will glue them together to make my husband a 3-D poster valentine that says: Life can be messy. Thanks for allowing me to be creative and coloring my world with LOVE.
I hope whatever you're whipping together for the ones you love turns out simply smashing! Have fun with your endeavors and Happy happy Valentine's Day!
Be sure and pop on in tomorrow for who knows what!
Scroll down for article #3 and my last valentine idea for this year. It would make a fun center for party day!
Last Minute Fun:
I know Valentine's Day is tomorrow, but I just had to post a few more things for people who still need a couple of finishing touches for their parties.
These Valentine Wands are super easy, and your students will LOVE finding them on their desk as a special surprise tomorrow.
Here's how to make them:
Run off the master on red/pink construction paper.
Cut out the hearts.
Cut the smaller back heart out of old file folders so that the wand is sturdier and won’t flop over.
Insert skewer into straw. This will make it sturdy so it won’t bend. The point will stick out about two inches. I don’t like to just use a skewer, as little ones wave their wands and I don’t want to chance them poking each other accidentally.
Glue the heart on the back on top of the skewer point. Tape the skewer in place. I’m big on finishing touches so I added two stickers to cover the tape.
Cut 3 pieces of 15-inch long curling ribbon. Use one strand to tie all of them to the end of the heart and curl the ends. I think metallic really gives it that extra sparkle.
You can simply write a student’s name on the back, leave it plain or really add pizzazz by writing their name in glitter glue. It’s worth the extra effort for the “wow!” effect you’ll get.
Lay them name up on your students’ desks on party day.
Click on the link to view/download the Valentine Heart Wand
Whatever you’re doing I hope it truly is magical!
Scroll down for article #2 - another quick surprise for your kiddo's.
I'm Wild About You!
I love zebra’s; they are fun to draw and easily recognizable by little ones, who seem to quickly associate them with the letter Z
I was in Big Lots the other day and picked up some things for my poodle pup Chloe.
Do you know they have designer doo-doo bags for dogs?
Well the nice thing about that, is they are sturdy, come in packs of 60 to 100 for around $3.
This is way less expensive than the designer treat bags for kids, that are smaller, flimsier, and come in packs of 12 – 18, which forces teachers and parents to buy multiple packs.
Now if you can just get past the idea of what their initial purpose is for, you’ll be fine.
Anyway…I bought some with a zebra print, because I wanted to make some “Wild about you” valentines and well…you be the judge, I think they turned out really cute.
It seems that animal prints are quite the rage, as you can buy zebra, leopard and giraffe prints in scrap paper as well as tissue paper. Give students several options for an extra wild February bulletin board, then send the valentines home on party day.
I also made a copy of my doo-doo bag for you to print off, in case you can’t find anything, but I really like the see-through affect that the bag or tissue make.
Run off my heart template on red construction paper and fold.
Remind students to keep their paper folded and cut on the lines. Tell them that if they listen and follow directions they will come up with a special “February shape”.
Your students can make these as a special valentine for their family and/or you can surprise them with a treat bag and use the “Wild about you.” as a hangtag.
Click on the link to view/download the Wild About You Valentine.
Follow this activity up by singing my Z-E-B-R-A song to the tune of Bingo. Click on the link to view/download my Bingo song cards.
They are a great way to teach clap patterns, letters, spelling and simple subtraction! I have one for each month which will review every letter of the alphabet except X. The H-E-A-R-T one is a February favorite.
Students can also color this adorable letter Z or turn it into a pinch and poke or dot-to-dot.
Click on the link for the Zebra Z or education.com's entire animal alphabet. It's a terrific site for kids.
Whatever you’re planning for Valentine’s Day, I hope you have a wildly wonderful time!
Do you have any ideas you'd like to share with us? I'd really enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com OR... feel free to leave a comment, especially if you use an activity. Thanks in advance.
Be sure and gallop on over tomorrow for some more fun!
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