Are you wondering what to do
with all those broken and worn-out crayons from past school years? Create a
new crayon from all those old ones as a fun weekend craft. This is a great
recycling lesson and art project all in one. Crayon cookies provide a rainbow
effect in this new art medium. The kids can make swirls and designs with one
swoop across the paper. This is a great activity to do on a rainy day or when
it’s just too hot to play outdoors. Here are the simple instructions.
Materials You Need:
Old crayons
Muffin tin
Aluminum foil
Oven
White paper
Instructions to Make Crayon Muffins:
Step 1 - Invite the children
to remove all the paper wrappings from each crayon. It’s best to use all the
brightly colored crayons you have.
Step 2 - Line several cups of
a muffin tin with squares of aluminum foil. Make sure the foil covers the
entire muffin cup and overlaps along the top edge. The foil makes it mess-proof
to the muffin tray and easy to take out after the melting process.
Step 3 - Have the kids break
the crayons into pieces between one-half inch to an inch.
Step 4 - Fill the muffin cup
half-way with an assortment of crayon pieces in a variety of colors. Continue
with this process according to how many crayon cookies you want to make.
Step 5 - Place the baking tin
in a preheated 300-degree oven. Bake the crayons for about five to seven
minutes. Ovens vary so watch the melting process carefully. Melt them just
enough to blend the colors but not to a total liquid where the colors turn into
a muddy mess.
Step 6 - Carefully remove the
muffin tin from the oven and set it to cool for at least 30 minutes.
Personally, once the liquid started to solidify, I transferred the tin to the
refrigerator to finish the task.
Step 7 - When the crayon muffins are completely cool and solid, the children can carefully peel off the
aluminum foil. Note that the cookies are more colorful on the foil side.
Step 8 - Now, bring out the
paper and challenge the kids to make designs and rainbows with their new art
medium.
