Human Spirograph

I loved to play with this as a kid.

It has circles.  It has symmetry.

Just lovely.

So when I saw this video of Tony Orrico, I knew we would be trying it!

We had to tape a few pieces of paper together to create a large enough canvas.  Then everybody got a turn. 

 Literally.

The trick is to stay centered and have your arms make the same motion the whole time you are rotating.

 Jono can't stand to be dizzy.  He only made it around once.

Dilly was our freestylin' spirographer.

And here is the finished product...

Crazy Crayons

I love crayons.  Especially the way they smell.  Maybe that's weird.  I can't bring myself to throw any away.  Even after they are little, broken, peeled pieces that you can't quite tell what color they are supposed to be.  There are tons of projects to do with leftover crayons.  Check out http://www.crayola.com/ if you don't believe me.

But a couple friends of mine (Hayley & Christine) have recycled their crayons in some fun ways.

I wanted to try it too!

Step One:  Peel the crayons (he was throughly engrossed in this part of the activity for a good 20 minutes!)

Step 2:  Bash them with a hammer.  (very satisfying)

Step 3:  Put crumbled bits into candy mold (or silicon ice tray if that's all you have on hand) 

Step 4:  Place it in the oven at 250-275 degrees until crayons are melted.  (because my mold is actually an ice tray, i placed it in a dish with a bit of water so the whole thing wouldn't melt inside my oven)

Step 5:  Let them cool then pop them out of your mold. 

Step 6:  Color!