hot rocks.

I have always enjoyed arts and crafts. I babysit and work at a preschool/kindergarten, so my life is pretty much consumed by PlayDough and Elmer's glue. There's nothing more relaxing than arts and crafts: you are totally consumed by whatever the project is! I was recently perusing one of my new favorite blogs, Wise Craft, when I came across this post about 'Hot Rocks'. This requires you to take a stroll in the woods or even the beach for rocks--what could be better than that. Here's how Blair from Wise Craft describes the process of how to make hot rocks:

For anyone who doesn't know how to do this, find rocks in the yard or forest (I know, again with the foraging for supplies, sorry).  Rocks that have a fairly smooth, flat surface are best.  Heat the rocks up in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes (on a foil lined cookie sheet).  While they are heating, have your kids get busy tearing the paper off of crayons they plan to color/paint on the rocks with.  Remind them to handle the rocks with pot holders, put them down on a protected surface (we used plastic cutting boards), and "paint" with crayons.  The crayons melt and the resulting color is very vivid (my kids love the glittery crayons the best).  And, if you're a tired mom like I am at about 3 in the afternoon, you can just pick one crayon color, press it down on your own rock, and let the entire thing melt down, just watching....watching.....watching the crayon melt....down....down...

its fun.

happy creating!