Supplies & Setup:

A canvas

We had an old one that I had used for a painting before that I didn’t like. We spray painted it with 2 coats of white and it worked out great!

Crayons

I bought two 64-pack boxes of Crayola crayons so I could sort through and choose our favorite colors. We had some leftover.

Glue

We used a hot glue gun because it dried almost immediately. You can use Elmer’s or super glue, but I went for quick and easy. And super glue with a preschooler is not a good idea lol. (Obviously the adult will handle the glue gun for safety reasons.)

Garbage bags*

*This is optional. You’ll want something to protect the area behind the art from splatter (which does happen). You can do this outside but we did ours indoors. I used 3 garbage bags, cut open and taped them to the wall. Worked like a charm and easy cleanup!

Hair Dryer or Heat Gun

I just used a regular hair dryer. I don’t have a heat gun. I’ve read that they work quicker, but we did just fine without one and I was comfortable with Andrew using a hair dryer himself.

Protective Gear*

This is optional. I thought it would be fun to put an art smock on Andrew with his rubber boots so he felt official. He loves dressing up and was so excited to put on his gear for the project.

Easy Step by Step Directions:

Prep Work:

To begin this fun project, you’ll want to prep your work area. You can do this project indoors or outdoors. We did ours inside after Andrew’s little brother went to sleep. I would suggest to avoid carpet if possible. We set up our area in the entryway on the tile. To prep the area, we layed out an old towel. I cut up 3 garbage bags and taped them to the wall behind the canvas as well as one on the floor. There is a bit of splatter but not too bad. The wax was super easy to pick up off the tile. I think it would be not so much fun on carpet. I got Andrew all dressed up in his protective gear.     Next, you’ll want to separate all of the crayons by color families (greens, reds and pinks, blues, oranges, yellows, purples, etc.). For this project, I removed all of the browns, blacks, and whites because I just wanted to use bright colors. If you have a little one helping, sorting the colors is a great learning activity for them and allow them to “help.” Then, you’ll want to line up the crayons along the outer edge of the canvas in the direction that they will be glued on to count how many crayons it takes for the width of the canvas. Ours was 71 crayons! After I knew how many I needed, I arranged them into a nice gradient rainbow that flowed nicely.

Creating Your Art:

My husband then glued each of the crayons along the upper edge of the canvas with the pointed part pointing down. It makes it SO much easier when you have them layed out already so that you can see exactly how to do it. If you’re OCD like me (well only slightly), you may want to glue the Crayola logo facing down because as you heat the crayons and they melt through the wrapper, the logo won’t be visible as much. (I’m all about symmetry and consistency lol). Since we used a glue gun, it was ready to go as soon as all of the crayons were glued to the canvas. This was the best choice because Andrew couldn’t wait to get started! I set the canvas carefully against the wall with the protective garbage bags. I plugged in the hair dryer and I got it started for him. It’s great for a grown up to do the edges just to help keep the splatter to a minimum. I had my hair dryer set on high and I held it about 3 inches from the crayons pointed at the center of the crayons where the wrapper is. It took about 20 seconds and the wax began to drip! It was really cool to watch! I started from the left and slowly worked my way across. When I reached the next color section, I gave the hair dryer to Andrew and he was just over the moon! The key to making this work well is to focus on about 4-5 crayons at a time. Slowly move from one side to the other. Then, go back and do it again. Once you reach the other end, you can start on the left and heat left to right. As the wax drips down, slowly point the hair dryer a bit downward to help spread the wax further down the canvas. Overall this is an easy project. We probably spent an hour total including setup, sorting crayons, laying them out, gluing them down, and melting them! We let the canvas dry overnight. The following morning, I used a skinny Sharpie to write our names and then hung our beautiful masterpiece in the boys’ playroom. This project was SO MUCH FUN! It came out even more beautiful than I thought. Andrew enjoyed it so much and got to participate so much! I highly recommend this project to all mamas with little ones. It makes for a great time and awesome decor! Hope you guys enjoyed this and if you make one, I’d love to see it!

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