Anyway, this all started with Lemony Snicket. C and I read The Lump of Coal this week.
He loved it. The book is about a lump of coal with a dream to become an artist. If you don't know already, C is my artist. He loves to draw and create, so he was immediately smitten with this lump of coal and his artistic dreams. But, when we got to the page that mentions coal turning into diamonds, C's eyes lit up and he wanted to know more. Hopefully, we will spend some time learning about coal and diamonds over Christmas vacation, but for now he is drawing pictures like this:
In case you didn't know, that is coal becoming a diamond. That is the way he imagined it happens. Now, there was no way that I was going to let him draw that coal with a plain old black crayon. I had to visit my friends at Almost Unschoolers and follow the directions posted there to make lumps of coal out of black crayons. It was easy enough; five unwrapped black crayons went into the oven (250 degrees for 5-10 minutes) in a foil pie pan until they were melted and then I used a plastic spoon to scoop the melted wax into coal shapes. This made two lumps of coal and they were ready to be used for coloring in just a few minutes. C was thrilled.
11 comments:
I'll bet he was. I'm seriously needing to go make some crayons.
Great idea! Love his drawing! So, is he getting any actual coal in his stocking? :)
@phasejumper: I do not have any coal for him right now. I feel the need to go buy some, but I wouldn't even know where to get it. I wonder if a charcoal briquette would suffice? Probably not. Where does one buy coal these days?
Maybe you should consider a set of artists charcoal for him :) I'm glad the crayons worked out!
Cute pictures, I wish diamonds were that easy to get:).
I have no idea where to tell you to buy coal...eBay saved me this year. My great grandfather and grandfather owned a coal and lumber yard back in the day. I still have a large lump of coal with my grandfather's name on it.
I was thinking the same thing as Leah.
I loved how he visualized turning coal into diamonds. It was a perfect activity for him. I wonder if sweet coal from Almost Unschoolers will work for him.
You should get him some sticks of art charcoal for drawing to put in his stocking! Ha!
Cute idea to make coal crayons! LOL that he wants coal for Christmas.
I love his drawing!
That is so funny!
My kids love the chocolate coal, so far I have not had a request for the real stuff
Coal crayons look awesome!
What a great idea! This is such a good example of how you are a great mother. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
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