FireCraftAutumnWinterBonfire Night
Charcoal from the fire: woodland drawing
Make your own charcoal in a biscuit tin on the embers, then draw with it — fire, chemistry and art in one session. A natural Bonfire Night pairing.
How it goes
- Pack willow or hazel pencils-lengths into a biscuit tin with a small hole in the lid.
- Nestle the tin into the embers; watch the smoke jet — that's the wood gas burning off.
- While it cooks, prep 'canvases': card, or smooth log rounds.
- Cool, open, draw. Compare your charcoal to bought sticks.
- Talk: what did the fire take out of the wood?
Risk-benefit starting point
Shared by the author as a starting point — planning this idea imports it into your own risk-assessment library to review and make your own before use.
Why it's worth it- Visible chemistry — wood gas, pyrolysis — at a child's pace.
- Making the art material before the art doubles the ownership.
- Hot tin and embers — Contact burns residual: Low
- Wood-gas flare — Startle/minor burn if leaning over residual: Low
- Tin placed and retrieved by an adult with tongs and gloves; cooled on bare earth before opening.
- Usual fire-circle rules in force throughout (no-go zone, water bucket, burns kit).
- Watch the gas jet from the seating ring, never leaning over the fire.
Questions & comments
No questions yet
Ask the first one — how long does it take, what age did it work for. The author gets a nudge by email.