The Day the Crayons Came Home

Age Range: 2 - 11

One day Duncan receives a set of postcards from his crayons who been lost, forgotten, broken – even melted in a clothes dryer and stuck to a sock!

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

Read the original book. How is this one similar / different? Which do you prefer?
Write a new set of postcards for other crayons.
'Maroon' is an example of a homophones. Can you think of any other homophones? Could you make your own homophone dictionary?
Create a story about 'Estaban the Magnificent' (also known as Pea Green crayon). What adventures does he have when he tries to run away to see the world?
Look at the use of upper and lower case letters in the text. Can you find any correct any 'mistakes'? Why has the author used upper / lower case letters in this way?
Write a scary story about something that has happened to 'Glow in the dark' crayon.
Create a new story about Duncan's crayons.

Investigate the number (or the length) of the crayons in your classroom. Can you use this for data handling / statistics activities?

Why did the orange and yellow crayons melt? Can you explain why things melt? Make a poster to teach others about states of matter.
Tan crayon is almost digested by the dog. Find out more about the digestive system.
Why does 'Glow in the Dark' crayon glow?

Use image editing software to create photos that show Neon Red crayon's visits to famous places around the world.
Record your own read-along video of this story. Use this example for inspiration:

Design a device that will help Esteban the Magnificent reach the door handle so that he can leave the house.
Design (and build) a new home for all of Duncan's crayons.

How many different colours can you think of? Can you make a chart that shows the names of different colours? Can you think of different shades of each colour?
Orange and Yellow get melted together in the story. Investigate what happens when you mix other colours.
Create some photos that show scenes from Neon Red's journey around the world.
Picasso is mentioned in the story. Can you find out more about his life and achievements?
Don't forget to explore our Colour resources.

'Esteban the Magnificent' plans to run away and see the world. Imagine that you could travel around the world. Where would you go? Plan the itinerary for your trip.
Look on a map and plot Neon Red crayon's journey through China, Canada, France, Newcastle (or is it Newcastle?), the North Pole, the Amazon rainforest, Cleveland and the Great Wall of China.
Imagine that you visited a famous landmark around the world. Write a postcard home to your family to describe your experiences.

Search for Ideas and Resources