Not everyone can appreciate the beauty of chemistry at such a young age. However, if you want your kids to grow up with a love for it, consider making it more fun for them by using crayon labels from the Etsy Shop Que Interesante.
This online treasure trove replaces crayon names with different chemical compounds. The labels are changed depending on the color of the chemicals when they go through the flame test.
For anyone who ever took chemistry in high school, you probably know that the flame test involves burning a substance to see what element they are made of -- through the color of the flame it produces. For instance, sodium when burned turns yellow while lithium turns red. This label set coincides the flame test with the crayon color.
The basic pack comes with 24-stick-on-crayon labels, and each order comes with an information sheet that shows which chemical formula goes with which color. Then, there's a basic chemistry sheet for the parent to give them a little brush up of high school chemistry (because you would not want your kids to be more knowledgeable about elements than yourself, right?)
Of course, kids these days have more crayons than ever, so the labels are also available in sets of 16, 48, 64, and even 120. For kids who prefer pencils when they crack out their coloring books, the shop also sells colored pencil sticker sets of 24 and 50.
Take note, however, that the labels are just that -- labels: there are no crayons included, which is where the information guide comes in. While some parents may complain about this, it's another project altogether to put the labels on their appropriate crayon color.
What can kids take away from all this? For one, instead of asking for a basic color like green, they can think they want a Barium Nitrate BA(NO3)2 Flame, which could come in way handy when they're taking their SATs ten years later.
Now wouldn't that be really smart? Great innovation, isn't it?
