Now that winter is upon us, it is good to have indoor activities for kids at the ready for days when you cannot go outside. This crayon DIY is perfect for little hands and leads to hours of creative fun once done.
Crayon DIY
I have always wanted to make my own crayons but just never got around to it. In the spirit of the new year, seize the day! Best part is I already had everything at home!
DIY Crayon Supplies
You’ll have to gather up just a couple of things. First, you’ll need those bits of crayon at the bottom of the crayon container along with any other crayons you want to donate from your stash. I happened to have a bunch of crayons leftover from a family event.
Next, you’ll need some molds for your crayons- I’ve seen people use muffin tins, cookie cutters on a foil-lined cookie sheet, and silicone trays. I used the silicone ice trays from Ikea. Through trial and error, we learned that the simple heart mold was the easiest to work with- I ended up snapping most of the crayon fishtails off trying to get them out of the mold.
If you use those trays or something comparable, I’d also recommend using a cookie sheet underneath. I didn’t and had more than a couple “Oops!” moments when it was time to take them out of the oven.
First thing’s first: preheat the oven to 250.
You don’t want any paper on your crayons, so if it’s there, strip it off. This is a great, time-intensive task for small hands. If you’re looking for a quick result, you can use a knife/craft knife and slice the paper the length of the crayon.
Now it’s time to decide what your color combos will be and sort them. We went with color families, but you could try some fun combos: red, white, and blue, chocolate and strawberries, broccoli and cheese or just a random mix. Working from each sorted pile, check for large pieces of crayon. If you have any big pieces, now’s the time to snap them down to a smaller size. Small hands can help here, too!
Time to fill the molds! My son helped here, too. You want to fill them up trying to keep any crayon from hanging out over the edge. If you use a muffin tray without papers, make sure you grease the tray well.
Place them in the oven and don’t go far! You want to keep a close watch on the crayons. I’d recommend checking them every 5 minutes or so. Ours took almost 10 minutes. Once the wax is melted, they’re done!
Take them out of the oven and let them cool. It took almost an hour for ours to cool and set. If you impatiently decide that they’re cool enough and start to take them out of the molds, you’re likely to break the crayon before it’s even out and cover your fingers in colored wax. Trust me. I know from experience. You can speed up the cooling process by putting them in the freezer (once the trays have cooled) or outside (as long as it’s chilly out there).
Once you’re sure they’re cool (RIP fishtails), pop them out!
You’re ready for coloring or wrapping them up for a friend!
More Indoor Activities for Kids
When the weather turns cold, here are other indoor activities for kids that are just as fun as this crayon DIY:
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Twitter: Stepfordska
says:
Cool idea! Recently, while I was cleaning, I found some pretty old, broken crayons so this would be a great way to recycle them. Unfortunately, I dont have a silicon muffin tray, hopefully the metal one will be ok.
The Stepford wife recently posted..Why is it cool to represent maternity as something negative?
Twitter: yummommies
says:
Neat idea. Will be trying this out with the kiddies. We have tons of crayons laying about.
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Twitter: Blended4Purpose
says:
I can’t wait to try this. I love the SITS Girls DIY posts. You women ROCK!!
Alethea Etinoff recently posted..Breaking Free from PMS Highlight Reel
These are so cute. I love the different molds you used.
JDaniel4′s Mom recently posted..ProFlowers Review- Sending a Wreath to Kate
I’m looking at the overflowing crayon tub on the kitchen table and thinking that this is a great idea.
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Twitter: elizabeth_agd
says:
I tried these and I find that the children really have to press to use them and even at that they barely make any colour. Does anyone else have this problem? I used a mini-muffin circle shape.
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Twitter: Suec
says:
Looks like a good craft. We had actually bought a crayon maker from Crayola – years ago, but I think it broke.
This way you can just do it in the oven. Thanks for sharing. And I like the mold idea too.
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Twitter: osvme
says:
interesting… waste of money but interesting.
Jenny recently posted..Little Sybil ♥
Twitter: k6art
says:
I love the little shapes. Fun to make, fun to use, and makes a great gift.
Rina recently posted..Observational Drawing with Sixth Grade
Twitter: kimparcher
says:
I have been looking for this very thing – we have a huge bucket of broken crayons that I was keeping. Thank you!
Kim recently posted..Online learning tools
This is a fun Projet. I have done this in past and kids love it….
Sharm’s Outlet recently posted..Happy B’day to Nicolette
So cool! I better start collecting the old crayons! Great idea!
Julie @ Naptime Review
http://www.thenaptimereview.com
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Twitter: PreciousPreemie
says:
So fun!!! Adding this to MY things to do list
Raquel Hunter recently posted..Is that a pesticide on my strawberry?
Twitter: homejobsbymom
says:
I need to try something like this with my boys
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