Rob Kleiman

View Original

Crayons That Teach Children the Periodic Table

Learn outside the lines: Chemistry lessons have never been so colorful

They say that learning is contextual. Etsy store Que Interesante is selling a set of crayons that have chemistry labels to go with color names to help kids learn the periodic table. The thinking here is that while children, or adults, are coloring, they also get exposed to the names of chemicals that make those colors.

Using the ‘flame test’, where elements are tracked based on the hue of the flame produced, each element gets matched to a crayon color. For example, Titanium produced a purple blaze, while Ruby emitted a ruby color.It is clever for the Etsy vendor to do this. The concept behind it, the vendor writes:

“Instead of thinking ‘I want green’ they will think “I want Barium Nitrate Ba(NO3)2 Flame” and then when they take chemistry in high school and their teacher sets some gas on fire and it makes a green color and they ask the class what chemical it was your student will know it was Barium! Genius!”

The design of the labels takes an educational approach through a familiar aesthetic. This is a fun adaptation on learning and creativity. It’s also another touch point for young minds to interact with chemistry.

More and more children get educational experiences and content delivered to them in digital formats. This allows kids to learn all the complicated scientific names as they engage in colorful creative activities.This subtle yet powerful way of putting them in high contact with the children could yield wonderful results for the next generation of scientists.

Que Interesante

Originally published at www.psfk.com on February 22, 2016.