Rainy day activity: Recycled Crayons Tutorial

OK, so technically it was not a rainy day today. But since it poured so much last night during the thunder storm, the temperature had dropped dramatically over night and the ground was soaked, my plans to meet up with a group of friends at the park in the am and have a picnic fell through today. It was cold enough this morning that I had to close all our windows because we were freezing at home and it was very grey outside most of the day. So I treated today like a rainy day.

I had been just dying to make these recycled crayons for a while now and since I finally found my Ikea ice cube molds (during my thrifting adventure), there was nothing holding me back!

So this morning, I set out to make these awesome recycled crayons:

Here is how to do it:

First, find your kids old crayons (I suggest making sure they are all the same brand, as otherwise it might separate when hard). They were Crayola washables, in case your curious. Peel the unpeeled broken pieces. And break the pieces that are too big, if using a mold similar to mine.

Note: I learned from my experience today, that since this mold is technically not meant to be heated, I should have broken the crayons in even smaller pieces, all of similar size, to reduce heating time. But don't worry, my mold didn't melt... even if I forgot it in the oven for a while. Oops! ;)

Greasing your mold is probably a good idea. ( I didn't do this, and it worked out, though I needed a knife to get them out.) Arrange the colors together the way you like in your mold. You can keep all colors separated if you like, but I really wanted to mix them up! I've also seen these made in muffin tins, or heart shaped baking pans.

A rainbow of possibility!

Then, put ice cube mold on a baking sheet and place in a preheated oven at 250F for about 10 minutes. Then check on it. At that point, they were about half melted, but I needed to add a few more crayons to fill my molds. Place back in oven another 5-10 minutes, keeping an eye on it. Remove when completely melted and let cool a few minutes on the counter.

I put them in the fridge after they cooled a bit to set them faster because I was being impatient ;) I think it really helped set them properly. When your certain it's all set, remove from molds.

Time for the kids to try it out!

Arianne just loved the heart shapes and only wanted to make some lines with them. I think she thought they were too pretty to use, lol.


Ashton quickly discovered that the colors changed depending how he held the crayon. His favourite thing to do was to hold the heart so that not the tip would touch the page, but a whole side, so he could get lots of different colors with just one stroke.


These were way too much fun to make! And could be such perfect present for any occasion (Valentines, party favors, etc). But next time, I really need to remember they are in the oven, I would not want to melt my mold, like I almost did, lol.

Now, where could I find more leftover crayon bits I wonder...

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