Monday, March 23, 2009

Block Crayons



We love our wax, block crayons! Following the book Coloring with Block Crayons (and a DVD of the author), we have been exploring how to use the different parts of the crayons, and how to blend the three primary colors to make other colors.



This week, we made a circle, starting with a cloud of yellow, blue and red, and then creating the other colors of the rainbow when the colors met and blended. Wilson kept his drawing in a circle. Joey decided to bring her colors inward and create a brown center. Ricky moved his colors inward and outward to form a rounded triangle.
We keep our crayons in a beautiful case that Joey and Mommy made from naturally dyed alpaca felt. We created an e-pattern with instructions and pictures so that others can make their own! Joey embroidered a pretty leaf on the front, and added silk ribbons that we dyed with blueberries and onion skins as ties. We are also selling them as custom orders to people who request one through our Etsy shop.




Here is a poem that Mommy read while we made our rainbow circles (from A Child's Seasonal Treasury, by Betty Jones):

Rainbow Fairies
Two little clouds one spring day,
Went flying through the sky;
They went so fast they bumped their heads,
And both began to cry.
Old Father Sun came out and said:
"Oh, never mind my dears,
I'll send my little fairy folk
To dry your falling tears."
One fairy came in violet, and one in indigo;
In blue, green, yellow; orange and red,
They made a pretty row.
They wiped the cloud tears all away
And then from out the sky,
Upon a line a sunbeam made,
They hung their gowns to dry.

6 comments:

Acorn to Oak said...

What a wonderful way to learn about and play with color! It looks like a lot of fun! It must have been fun watching each of your children do it a little differently too. :-) I love the bag you all created. And, what a wonderful poem.

Unknown said...

I've never understood the fascination with crayon blocks. This post brings a bit of light to the possibilities. Thank you! And your bag you created is marvelous!

That poem is beautiful and will go along nicely with what I have planned for the fairies I just ordered from you. I can't wait to get them :) Thanks again!

Tan Family said...

Thank you both for the nice comments! Siayla (Brooke), I agree with you that I, too, didn't understand why the block crayons were so important. Reading the book and watching the video changed my mind! I practice the techniques on my own, first, then with the kids. I never knew that crayons could blend into secondary colors! It's very therapeutic, too.

FrontierDreams said...

what a beautiful post! thank you for sharing that!! psst. our root child appeared on my blog ;) thank you again!!!!! <3

Joy said...

So cute! I love the block crayon holder. That poem is one of my daughter's favorites.

Jen said...

Jennifer, your posts are so inspiring! Your family is just beyond creative and I want to thank you for sharing so much with the rest of us :) I loved the poetry reading, as well and am learning so much from what you are sharing! Excited to keep reading :) Have a festive weekend!