The fall season for me means back to school time- and as a preschool teacher and busy mom of three, it also means it is time to load up on the crayons. Isn’t it amazing how fast a crayon can go from long and pointy to short and dull? And what fun are dull crayons? None of my students like to use them, and neither do I! But before you go tossing all your unwanted crayons into the trash, try this fun activity with the kids- you’ll never throw away another crayon again!
Materials
Old, broken crayons
Mini muffin tin
Cooking spray
Toothpick
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Spray your mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
Collect your crayons. I have a small bucket that sits on the center of my preschool tables and I encourage the kids to toss the tiny crayons into the bucket.
Remove the paper (if the kids haven’t already done so!) and break the crayons into smaller pieces. This is the only time kids can intentionally break the crayons, and they love it!
Sort your crayons by color. This makes it easier to choose the color combinations of your new crayons.
Divide your crayons into each muffin cup. Mix like colors to make solid color crayons, or get creative and mix a variety of colors. I wouldn’t suggest using more than three colors, otherwise it just makes the whole crayon dark and muddy. Add more crayons to the muffin cups for bigger crayons, or fewer for smaller crayons.
Place the muffin tin into the oven for about 5-7 minutes, or until the crayons are melted. Remove the pan from the oven carefully. You can mix the colors while they are still melted with a toothpick if you want the colors to be swirled. Then, let them cool completely! I got impatient after a while and popped mine in the freezer.
Once the crayons have cooled, they pop right out of the tin with very little effort!
Let your little one’s imagination run wild!
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Stephanie Dulgarian is a stay at home mom who loves to create in any spare time she finds! She is married to her best friend and together they are raising three sweet kids who keep her busy, but make life fun! They are Orange County transplants who have been living in Phoenix for the past five years and they love it! Stephanie blogs about all her creative adventures on her site somewhat simple.