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Recycling Crayons into New Ones with Help from the Sun

July 3, 2012 by OneMommy

 

 

Shwew!   The temperatures around here definitely have been screaming “SUMMER!”  What better fun than show the kids just what the heat can do…by melting our old crayons into new, star-shaped ones!  (After all, you need star crayons for the 4th of July!)

recycling old crayons into new ones -- perfect summer activity

Start the process by having the kids peel the paper from the broken crayons.  This is great for fine motor skills.  Then, have them break the crayons into pieces.  In a world where kids are told not to break crayons, this is sure to be a hit.

Once they finish, use scissors to snip the pieces into 1/4 inch lengths.  This will allow the pieces to melt more uniformly.

recycling crayons into new ones

 

 

Have your children sort the pieces by color into a silicon ice cube tray.  We used a star shaped tray for the 4th of July.  If your kids want multi-colored crayons they can choose which colors to mix.

 

recycling crayons into new ones with help of the sun

Then put the tray inside a car outside.  (We learned the hard way that a sudden rain shower will ruin the crayons.  Having them in the car keeps them dry.)  The kids and I checked on the crayons every hour or so.  They loved watching them go from shiny to ooey-gooey!

After the crayons melt, allow them to solidify inside.

To get them out of the silicon mold, flip the ice cube tray over onto several paper towels.  Use a hair dryer to heat up the back of the tray and wiggle the new crayons out on to the paper towels.

recycling broken crayons in the sun

 

Have fun using the sun’s heat to recycle those old crayons!

Looking for ways to help the kids stay cool this summer?

  • Make a Water Wall with Recyclables 
  • 15 Outdoor Water Play Ideas
  • Ways Kids Can Stay Cool with Ice

 

Filed Under: Kids Activities Tagged With: recycled craft, summer

Comments

  1. Cindy says

    July 3, 2012 at 11:10 am

    That is a really cute idea! I don’t know why we haven’t done it with the kids. Even at 9 and almost 6 I think they will still enjoy it.

    • OneMommy says

      July 3, 2012 at 3:23 pm

      Oh, I am sure they’d like it! And at that age it becomes even more of a learning moment. They can check the weather and see which day it will work the best, try mixing various colors, try having some bigger pieces to see how they melt compared to smaller pieces, try different brands of crayons….so many things they can discover at that age!
      (Now if I can figure out how to get the crayons out of the ice cube trays…or they might just be stuck as “craft only” trays!)

  2. Deb says

    July 3, 2012 at 1:01 pm

    Cool idea for a hot weather project ; )

  3. Rach says

    July 3, 2012 at 4:29 pm

    I love that you guys used the sun to do this! So smart!

    • OneMommy says

      July 5, 2012 at 10:44 am

      It’s definitely been hot enough!

  4. Jacklynn says

    July 4, 2012 at 9:46 am

    I have heard of doing that in the oven but what a great idea to let the (free) sun do the work! Fun!

    • OneMommy says

      July 5, 2012 at 10:52 am

      Yes, I was hoping to do it sometime, and I was thinking the oven, but then it’s been sooooooo hot, I thought we’d give it a try!

  5. Ugoch says

    July 4, 2012 at 12:37 pm

    Hi OneMommy,
    This is a must do for me and my boys this holidays, too many old crayons flying about in our house. Now we can put them to good use, and have fun while at it too. Thanks for sharing.
    Thanks for your commendation on Klout, I appreciate you greatly. I just joined you now via Networked Blogs and liked your page.
    Heve a great summer!

    • OneMommy says

      July 5, 2012 at 10:54 am

      We have quite a few more old crayons around here, too… Going to find some other crafty things to do with them! 🙂

      You’re welcome for the Klout. Thanks for following me! Off to check out your W.W. post!

  6. Ginny Marie says

    July 5, 2012 at 8:49 am

    I really want to try this! We save our broken crayons in a jar just for this craft, but I haven’t bought a cute muffin pan yet. Today would be the day to do this…the weatherman is saying it’s going to be 105 degrees today!

    • Ginny Marie says

      July 6, 2012 at 8:30 am

      I’m linking to this post today on my blog! We did this project yesterday, and I stuck the pan we used in the freezer for a few minutes. The crayons came out very easily!

      • OneMommy says

        July 6, 2012 at 2:30 pm

        Thanks for linking to my post!
        Good idea to stick it in the fridge… Can’t wait to check out your post! 🙂

    • OneMommy says

      July 6, 2012 at 2:28 pm

      Yep! Sounds like the day to do it! 🙂
      I just want to warn you, if you pick a rubber ice cube tray/muffin pan the wax may not all come out of it. Mine were a buck each, so I’ve decided they’ll just be reused for craft things…

  7. Kirsten says

    July 7, 2012 at 6:55 pm

    Oh what a great idea. We have so many old crayons clogging up our ‘pencils basket’, that never get used and really aren’t much good.

    I wonder how hot it needs to be? It’s winter here, so not hot at all, but I’m wondering if we put them in the car, in the sun, how hot a day we would need to make it work. Cars do really heat up. Maybe in the Spring…

    • OneMommy says

      July 9, 2012 at 11:10 am

      It definitely is something to do with those broken crayons!
      Not sure how hot it would have to be, but cars do get hotter. 🙂

  8. Nicole says

    July 9, 2012 at 12:29 am

    I have a ton of broken crayons at my house – I should do this! Thanks for the tip & for visiting my blog 🙂

    • OneMommy says

      July 9, 2012 at 2:01 pm

      Have fun getting creative making crayons!

  9. Donna says

    July 9, 2012 at 6:05 pm

    What a great idea. How fun. You do come up with imaginative projects.

    • OneMommy says

      July 12, 2012 at 9:01 pm

      Thank you. I am just trying to cram in as much fun as I can with the kids before they’re grown.

  10. Kirsten @ Homeschool Discoveries says

    July 10, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    What a fun idea! The kids accidentally left a few crayons in the car and they made a big melty mess. But they thought it was so cool. We’ll have to try this too.

    • OneMommy says

      July 12, 2012 at 9:11 pm

      Oh! Were you able to clean the crayon mess up?
      If they liked that, I bet they’d love to make crayons out of the gooey mess!

  11. Ticia says

    July 12, 2012 at 4:59 pm

    Hmmm….. I didn’t know the wax and color separated like that from water. Ours did that one time and I just assumed it was from not using the right temperature.

    Thanks for linking up to Science Sunday!

    • OneMommy says

      July 12, 2012 at 9:12 pm

      Oh, I guess it could be due to the temperature…. I just assumed it had to do with the water in the wax! Hmm…. Sounds like a future experiment!

  12. Sara says

    July 12, 2012 at 5:31 pm

    great project for summer, can’t wait to try this one with my kids, maybe in something silcone. Thanks so much for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday!

    • OneMommy says

      July 12, 2012 at 9:13 pm

      They had a lot of fun with it. I will warn you, our rubber ice cube trays are now for crafts only. Something metal may clean up better…

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