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Here’s a fun craft that we dreamed up last week — electric griddle drawings!<\/p>\n
This is an incredibly cool way to draw pictures but you must use extreme caution<\/strong> with kids and be sure to only do this with kids old enough to be careful around the hot plate.<\/p>\n I did this when two-year-old Alex was napping, because I knew he wouldn’t be able to do it safely.\u00a0 My oldest kids (ages 6, 10 and 11) were all able to do it safely and follow the rules fine.<\/p>\n Supplies needed:<\/strong><\/p>\n Electric griddle<\/p>\n Tin foil<\/p>\n White copy paper<\/p>\n Crayons<\/p>\n Steps:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.\u00a0 Cover your griddle with tin foil.\u00a0 I didn’t think of this and it took us a very long time to get melted crayon wax off before we had pancakes next.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 You need to cover it with tin\u00a0 foil because the wax cannot bleed through it (as it would with newspaper) and the heat will still be conducted.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 Lay a couple of sheets of white paper down.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0 Turn your griddle on to about 325 to start.\u00a0 When it’s preheated, take a crayon and start to draw on one of the sheets of paper.\u00a0 When the griddle is the right temperature, the crayon will melt as you draw with it.\u00a0 It should become liquid and very bright.\u00a0 If it’s not melting much, turn the heat up to 350 and try again.\u00a0 Too high and the crayon will smoke, though.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0 Instruct your child to keep hands and arms away from the hot griddle and hold the crayon straight up and down.\u00a0 (Note: a couple of times we accidentally brushed the griddle despite being careful.\u00a0 It was a shock but was not hot enough to leave a mark or do real damage.)<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0 Create!<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0 When your child is finished, carefully remove the paper.\u00a0 You may want to use tongs or a pot holder.\u00a0 The paper should be cool enough to touch in a few seconds.<\/p>\n This is a really addictive craft.\u00a0 Even I couldn’t resist joining Jack and drawing with him.\u00a0 There is something really satisfying about the way the crayons just melt under your touch and leave such vivid, liquid-like marks.<\/p>\n These look gorgeous in a sunny window.<\/p>\n Here’s a collage of some of our kids’ masterpieces.<\/p>\n
![\"griddle\"](\"http:\/\/magicalchildhood.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/03\/griddle.jpg\")
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