By Janna Schiavo of Sterilite Corporation
Kids are always making a mess with their crayons. Breaking them, using them until they are too small to hold, or even leaving them in a hot car where they melt and become unusable. But what becomes of all these itty bitty crayon pieces that are left over? Instead of throwing them out, think of the planet and upcycle them into new crayons. With a little time and some baking molds you’ll have some brand new crayons! Read on for step by step instructions.
1. Gather all the old crayon pieces from around the house.
2. Unwrap all the crayons. If this is difficult, there are a couple of ways to make it a little easier. You can trying cutting the crayon wrapper down the side with a knife and it should slide right out of the wrapper. Or you can try soaking the crayons in water for 5-10 minutes so the paper will be soggy enough to easily remove.
3. Break the large crayons into smaller pieces. They should all be about the same size so that they melt quickly and evenly.
4. Sort the crayons by color and put the broken up pieces into a baking mold. Using a mini-muffin pan results in crayons that are a great size and shape for small hands. Or for more fun crayons use novelty bakeware. When filling the molds be sure to fill them a little taller than the desired height to account for the space in between the crayons, when they melt they will shrink down.
5. Bake the crayons. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until wax has completely melted.
6. Let the crayons cool and remove them from the molds. If some of the crayons don't pop out easily, just place the pan in the freezer for 10-15 minutes then try again. They should come out with minimal effort and leave no residue on your pan. If you’re still struggling to remove the crayons try running a butter knife along the edge of the mold to separate the crayon from the metal.
This is a fun activity to do with the kids to keep them entertained in the home stretch of the winter!
Happy crafting!