Heat makes a crayon a little loopy; it may melt into a swirl or pool into a whirl. With this in mind, we chopped up crayons and baked them in shaped mini cake tins, making large blocks that are easy for toddlers to hold and will surely inspire older artists. Encourage kids to come up with combinations: A blue-and-white blend for drawing the sky, for example, and a mix of reds and oranges for sunsets.
Tools and Materials
Kitchen knife
Old crayons
Mini-cake tins (we used pans with heart- and circle-shaped pockets)
Crayon How-To
1. Parents can use the knife to chop crayons into pea-size pieces, taking care to keep colors separate so kids can combine them as they like.
2. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees while children fill the tin with crayon pieces, arranging them in interesting designs.
3. Bake just until the waxes have melted, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Remove the shapes after they have cooled. If they stick, place tray in the freezer for an hour, and the crayons will pop out.
What a great idea, just did this for a bunch of 1st graders, add some glitter so much fun!!!!
On another website they say that you should try candy or soap molds or line a tin with foil 1st to be easier to take out. Plus once you use a silicone mold it is harder to clean and you might not want to use it for food anymore.
Great Recipe - check out video of the kids and I making them on NotaCoolMom.com!
I'm having trouble getting the crayons to melt in the silicone one. Any suggestions? I've already baked them 20 minutes longer than I baked the tin pans.
Great idea about the garage sale.
TIP! do NOT use crayola washable crayons!!! The washable component comes to the top of the wax when you are melting it and that colors invisible. I had to throw them out. But the crayons really do wash off the walls with a damp rag!!!!!
This is so fun and easy. I've made many different shapes.
This is the best on rainy days when there's nothing to do. My niece and baby sister make these and they color with them for hours! It's never been more fun to recycle.
I make this for a Xmas gift for a grade 1 class, I make them in hearts, stars and circles.Wish there were more shapes to use. The kids just love them. It takes time removing all the paper. I go to garage sales to get some of the crayons. they're fun to do
fahrenheit
Is that 150 degrees celsius or fahrenheit??
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be prepared for them to stick, I tried this once a few years ago and couldn't get them out...I scratched up my pan really badly and the hearts looked really shotty after trying to dig them out. Hopefully the freezing suggestion will help you out
thank u for this great idea, i have 2 grandaughters whom will be 3 next mont and i think they would love this for christmas,....thanks a bunch
This sounds fanatistic! I'm really gonna try this one. Would anyone happen to have any ideas on what to do with short pencil colors?
I simply love it! I've to get a tray now :) Thanks for another really great idea.
another fascinating great idea! I don't have the pans but i'm going to get one right away!!
This is so totally kewl! I'm old and all my kids have been through Collage and all that stuff. My youngest is in the Marines [special services]. Anyway I never think of kids things and this is even exciting for me. I'm going to do it for my grand babies and for me too! ;)
These round crayon "cupcakes" would be perfect to use for rubbings of leaves and other things! In fact when I purchased a kit for doing rubbings, this is the shape the rubbing crayons came in.
Very cute but more crafty than organizing
Very cute but more crafty than organizing
Very cute but more crafty than organizing
I have been making these for years. We make them for party favors with custom coloring pads in simple brown bags folded down at the top about 2", and then cut with decorative scissors, and tied with gingham ribbon. It is always a hit! Parents love taking these to dinner out with the kids. It gives them something to do.
I have been making these for years. We make them for party favors with custom coloring pads in simple brown bags folded down at the top about 2", and then cut with decorative scissors, and tied with gingham ribbon. It is always a hit! Parents love taking these to dinner out with the kids. It gives them something to do.
I have been making these for years. We make them for party favors with custom coloring pads in simple brown bags folded down at the top about 2", and then cut with decorative scissors, and tied with gingham ribbon. It is always a hit! Parents love taking these to dinner out with the kids. It gives them something to do.
I did this with my kids who are now in their 30's and 20's but made it like a crayon. I am going to do this with my grandkids to make as a teacher gift.
I did this with my kids who are now in their 30's and 20's but made it like a crayon. I am going to do this with my grandkids to make as a teacher gift.
I can't wait to try this this weekend. I was just recently thinking the little crayon pieces were going to have to be tossed out since my toddler tends to try to eat them
I can't wait to try this this weekend. I was just recently thinking the little crayon pieces were going to have to be tossed out since my toddler tends to try to eat them
I can't wait to try this this weekend. I was just recently thinking the little crayon pieces were going to have to be tossed out since my toddler tends to try to eat them
This is such a great idea! I'm sure my son and I will have a great time doing this together.
I can't wait to try this this weekend. I was just recently thinking the little crayon pieces were going to have to be tossed out since my toddler tends to try to eat them
This is such a great idea! I'm sure my son and I will have a great time doing this together.
This is such a great idea! I'm sure my son and I will have a great time doing this together.
You can melt crayons in used paper cups in the microwave- start at 25 sec - until you can see that they have melted or softened. Take out right away, and let cool. Do not leave the room while doing this. Seeing flames in your microwave is disconcerting. Good crayons work best- not the cheap waxy ones with little color. Have done this for years. Kids love the process and the crayons.
grandmere
Being a gal who still loves to color, I love this idea! Cathy www.christmascorgi.blogspot.com
I use ice cube molds.. the plastic is a little thicker than candy molds. They hold the shapes better. I have an ice cube mold that I loved it is tubed shaped just like a crayon, but it has one flat side.
Has anybody tried this with candy molds (and the microwave, I'm guessing). There are a lot of great shapes and they are smaller than a metal tin would be. I'm thinking they would make great party favos for kids.
What a great idea. The larger shapes also makes it easier for small hands grasp so they are able to get in on the fun of coloring too. They don't necessarily care what color they are using, they just like seeing the color appear on the paper.
My daughter and i made Christmas ornaments using this technique last year! Very cute. We warmed a hot nail and slipped it through the ornament for a hanger.
We DID learn however, that you can NOT use cheap crayons for this ... the cheap ones dont melt well. Crayolas work the best
i did this with my nonstick mini muffin tins. worked like a charm! can do it with soap scraps too if you're of a mind to
Most crayons these days are washable. It would be fine to re-use the pan. However, I would think you could also use cupcake tins to do the job if your concerned.
dollieself: I would think if you gave the pan a good wash, it would remove any residue from the crayons. Kids eat crayons all the time, so I don't think it would particularly make your pan unuseable.
This is So cool!!! I used the silicone candy molds that I use only a few times a year and they work great! I let my 4 year old be the task leader for my 2-year old twins (boy and girl) and this way they are not tempted to eat them because they know that they are a craft and not food. But supervision is still a good idea with your little artists!!
Can the pan be reused for food after melting crayons in it?
I did this with my mom's old crayons that her daycare kids mutalated...excepted we used the silicon cupcake molds and I found that it was easier to get out then the tin pans.
this was fun. my son has taken a liking to just breaking crayons (he's only 2), I find that it's difficult for him to color with the broken pieces, but don't want to waste the money on buying more crayons for him to break. This was super easy, and fun. I chopped up the crayons, baked them, and let the cool, they stuck so I did the freezer trick, and they're awesome. and they look pretty cool too!