Melting Marker Colors

Creative activities, such as Melting Marker Colors, enable children to expand their understanding of color and art on their own terms.

1. Cover your craft area with newspaper. Wet a piece of heavy, light-colored paper. You're going to experiment with mixing colors. With a Crayola Paint Brush and clear water, dampen the paper.

2. Choose a Crayola Washable Marker. Make strokes of color on your wet paper.

3. Color over the first color with another color. Or put a line of one color close to another color. Watch how the colors melt into each other to create a third color, or a rainbow effect.

4. Experiment with different colors and amazing effects. What new colors can you make? Air-dry your papers on more newspaper, spreading them out so they don't touch.

Adult supervision is required for any arts & crafts project. Observe children closely and intervene as necessary to prevent potential safety problems and ensure appropriate use of arts and crafts materials. Some craft items, particularly beads and buttons, are potential choking hazards for young children. Avoid use of such small parts with children younger than 3 years. Craft items such as scissors, push pins and chenille sticks may have sharp points or edges. Avoid use of materials with sharp points by children younger than 4 years. Read all manufacturers' safety warnings before using arts and craft supplies.

Sparkling Gift Box

Blooming Window Smiles

Molas Exploding with Color

Crafts

crayola supplies

• Arts & Crafts Brushes
• Washable Markers

household supplies

• recycled newspaper
• white paper
• container(s) of water

"My children love experimental art. They get so excited when they try their own ideas."
Judy K., mom of three, ages 4 to 10.

"This was the perfect art project to end our Fun With Water unit."
Baruti E., camp counselor.

A research study on creativity found that children benefit from open-ended art experiences where they can decide what to draw and how. The study found that when children were given predrawn, V-shaped birds to color, they began using the simple, check-mark shapes for all birds in their drawings. They stopped creating birds with original details. In contrast, children who made their own bird drawings thought about what real birds look like. They chose what features to draw, where to place bird parts in the picture, and increased their knowledge about birds. Doing imaginative drawing on plain paper promotes children's critical and creative thinking skills. They also feel more competent about their artistic skills.