Fun with Volcanoes!

Before the Christmas break, we had a LOT of fun in my classroom...probably more than I intended to have.  :)  In my last post, I talked about Christmas kindness.  We completed 11 random acts of kindness over the last two weeks of school before the break.  We did things like:  take cookies to the office staff, make cards for patients in the nursing home in town, give candy canes to each teacher, and we made a super cute Christmas tree for our principal with ornaments that said nice things about her.  The kids really loved it, and I'm hoping to incorporate at least weekly random acts of kindness for the rest of this year.  It's always nice to take some time away from our routine and do something fun, right?  :)

We also studied landforms and natural disasters for the last few weeks before the break.  We made tornadoes in a jar, and watched lots of Brainpop's on natural disasters....who doesn't like Tim and Moby?!?  And, the students each made a volcano at home, brought it to school and erupted it on the front lawn!  We could have used a little more vinegar and baking soda to make them erupt better, but hey!  We had fun!

The last thing we did with the volcanoes was on the day before school let out!  This was probably the coolest and cutest thing we could ever do with a volcano!  We did crayon art!  I went to Lowes and got a couple of 2x10 boards, and had them cut at every 6 inches.  The man cutting them thought I was crazy, but I told him no, I'm just a teacher!  I then sanded the sides and gave each student a board.  They painted the top part blue and the bottom green.  They then picked out a few of their yellow, orange and red crayons and I hot glued them to the board.  We then made a volcano out of construction paper, and glued it on top of the crayons.  (I would do that step last next time though!  The crayons melt a lot faster if there is no paper in the way of the heat.)  We then put a blow dryer to the crayons and melted them to make it look like actual lava was shooting out!  They turned out very cute, and the kids got to take them home.  I definitely suggest doing this!  Just make sure you start early, or plan a couple of days....it does take some time, and a lot of patience!
Here are some pictures of the process!

If you want more information, just comment and I'll be happy to help!  By the way, since the boards were 2x10's, they easily stand up on their own.  Canvases are usually ideal for crayon art, but that can get pretty expensive!  I got 2 2x10's for around $15, and used them for 2 full classes!  They stand up on their own, or you could even put a picture hanger on the back if you want!

I hope you have a great week back at school!  And, as always, check out my teacher store for more ideas!  :)  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Now-What-Ms-Lemons