periodic table crayon covers teach kids science through coloring

one of the best ways to capture a child’s imagination is with a box of crayons. etsy shop ¡Que Interesante!, which calls itself a place “where geek meets art,” has created special labels for crayons and colored pencils to help kids learn about the elements of the periodic table, and their chemical reactions, while coloring.

¡Que Interesante! used the flame test, a qualitative test in which the chemical makeup of a compound is identified by the color it gives off when placed in a flame, to match chemicals to colors.

“so,” according to the company, “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.”

—

“as long as chemistry is studied, there will be a periodic table.

and even if someday we communicate with another part of the universe,

we can be sure that one thing both cultures will have in common

is an ordered system of the elements that will be instantly recognizable

by both intelligent life forms.

—john emsley, nature’s building blocks: an A-Z guide to the elements

—

credits: etsy, mental floss, r.obias, que interesante