Toddler Arts and Crafts: Recycled Crayon Cuties

Broken crayons...  I think anyone who owns a box of crayons, also owns broken ones.  I like to keep things in order, nice and neat, and if it were up to me, the crayons would always be in color family order in the big box of 64 Crayola crayons with the mini sharpener on the back.  But apparently, I had to lay my desire for nice and neat aside, because I have a two year old.  He doesn't feel the same way that I do about crayons, so they are busted and beat up in an old plastic Huggies wipes container.  With broken ones comprising at least a quarter of the bin.  The trouble with broken ones is that I now have an 8 month old...  Who crawls... Everywhere.  So now, I have to worry about tiny crayon bits looking like food to her.  One more choking hazard on the floor.  What to do, what to do?!?

I'll tell you...  I made cute crayon rounds from our broken bits.  Here is my fun photo tutorial for what to do to recycle broken crayons, other than your very valid and almost as easy option of just throwing them away.

1.  Heat oven to 275 degrees. 
2.  Collect broken crayon bits and your toddler.  Remove paper from the crayons.

2.  Ask toddler to "help" you by putting broken crayon pieces into a muffin tray. (I used a nonstick mini muffin tray.  You can also use tinfoil cupcake wrappers or Pam cooking spray in your muffin tray.)

3.  When you have run out of broken crayon pieces or space in your muffin tray, put them in the oven.

4.  The crayons should take 6 to 8 minutes to melt.  Keep an eye on them, because they melt quickly!  Remove from oven.



5.  Let them cool until cool to the touch.  Isaiah wanted to watch them cool...  Fun, I guess??

6.  Turn over the tray and pop them out!  Ta-da, fun new crayons for your toddler! 

This is such an easy craft for you and your toddler to do, so you can even get creative with variations on the basic idea, such as:   Using themed muffin trays like Christmas, Valentines Day, or a birthday theme for fun and different shapes.  Packing the muffin cups full of crayons for extra chunky crayons versus only a few bits in each tin for smaller, thinner crayon shapes.  Swirling the colored wax with a toothpick when it comes out of the oven for a fun visual variation!  You can even recycle your broken crayons into fun birthday party favors when paired with printed off coloring sheets that match your theme! 

This was an Isaiah approved craft that didn't take long at all.  And it was easy enough that mom didn't pull out any hair.  Try it!  Recycle and repurpose your old broken crayons into something new for your kiddles!!  

Comments

  1. I love this and I want to do it! I'm glad you said about it being easy, because sometimes these projects look like they'd be easy until you're knee deep in some waxy goop that used to resemble broken crayons. Thanks for the post. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem! Was definatley easy, which is so very necessary for toddlers! Hope you enjoy it! Let me know how it turns out for you and if you do any special variations!!

      Delete
  2. How fun! I've just been tossing those loose, broken crayons my girls leave on the floor (because it's fun to empty crayon boxes...) before the dogs get their jaws on them and create even smaller chunks which become part of my rug! Thanks for the fun tip -- must look for small muffin tins!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Foray into *Somewhat* Extreme Couponing…

Sex, the Church, and Erotica or a Peek into Pulling Back the Shades

So... It's been a while!