Batik is a method of coloring fabric using dye and wax. Waxed areas of the fabric will resist the dye while unwaxed areas and cracks in the waxed areas will absorb dye. The process I used also involves melting crayon bits in paraffin to add other colors to the project. I think kids would love this, as long as they've got supervision around the hot wax and the iron. You know what your particular kids can handle, but I'll let my 6 and 10 year old boys do the wax painting and keep the ironing for myself.

Gather this stuff:

• unwrapped crayon pieces grouped into colors
• paraffin wax (I found mine in the canning section at the grocery store)
• empty, clean cans
• electric frying pan
• paint brushes
• all-cotton cloth
• cold water dye (I used Dylon Permanent Fabric Dye, from JoAnn's)
• bucket or stainless steel sink
• newspapers or paper grocery bag
• iron and ironing board

Here are the steps:

1. Wash the project cloth, if it's new, to remove any fabric treatment which could interfere with dyeing.
2. Iron the cloth, since it's much easier to work on a flat piece.
3. Sketch your design in pencil onto the cloth, if you like. (I used a metal frog decoration as a stencil, since I'm not very good at drawing.) Keep the design simple - details are hard to do and may get lost during the rest of the process.
4. Sort the unwrapped crayon pieces into the cans by color group. All greenish in one, yellowish in another, blueish in another.
5. Cut up the paraffin into chunks and add a few to each color can and also into an empty can.
6. Place the cans in the electric frying pan, add some water to the pan, and turn it on low (about 200°F). Be sure there's always some water in the pan while it's on.
7. Now comes the trial-and-error part - getting the right proportions of crayon and paraffin. One source says that 30% beeswax and 70% paraffin is the best mix, but we're using crayons. I tried using just melted crayon and the wax hardened on the brush before I even got it to the cloth. Paraffin helped it to stay liquid longer, but too much can make the wax brittle and it can flake right off the cloth. I've read that beeswax makes it stick to the cloth better, so I might try adding some of that next time.
8. Paint your design using the melted wax. Try to get an even coat that's not too thick or it might run out of the pattern during ironing later. (This is what happened to my yellow and blue frogs.)
9. Another option which worked well for me was coloring the design with the crayon stubs and then coating it with the clear liquid paraffin. (This is the way I did the green frogs.)
10. Paint clear paraffin over the rest of the cloth.
11. When the wax has cooled, crumple the cloth, cracking the wax.
12. Prepare the dye in the bucket or sink according to the instructions. Make sure it's a cold water dye, since hot dyes will melt the wax.
13. Wet the cloth and place it in the dye. Follow the dye instructions.
14. After dyeing and rinsing, let the piece air-dry.
15. Place layers of newspaper or paper grocery bags on the ironing board and lay the cloth on top. Cover it with a few more layers of paper.
16. Heat the iron to the cotton setting and iron the stack. This will draw the wax out of the cloth and into the paper.
17. You're done, celebrate!