Making Crayon Cookies

So it was the beginning of the school year and of course, crayons were on the school supply list. I noticed that our crayon tub was overflowing--overflowing with old, worn, broken crayons, that is. With fresh new packs of crayons all ready for school, I wondered what to do with the old ones. My friends and family suggested that I: donate them, make candles, make new crayons, or throw them away. In an effort to recycle, I decided my kids and I would make new crayons from the old ones. Here's how we did it:




Materials needed:

old crayons

old muffin tins (we bought 2 from the dollar store)

cupcake liners (optional)




Directions:

1. Remove paper from crayons and break into short, small pieces.


2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


3. Sort crayons by like colors or create color combinations.


4. Fill muffin tin(s) with crayon pieces.


5. Melt in oven for about 10 minutes.


6. Remove from oven, and let them cool.


7. Once they are cool, the edges will begin to separate from the tin.


8. Pop them out an enjoy!

They come out in cookie shape, just right for small hands.

Crayon Cookies

Crayon Cookie Towers

Some tips about this craft:

1. Peeling the paper from the crayons can be tricky, so have smaller children do the breaking, while Mommy and/or older children do the peeling.


2. Peel and break over newspaper for easy clean up (something I did not do. . .what was I thinking?).














JR-the official crayon breaker








3. Try making crayon shapes using cookie cutters. Line a baking sheet with foil and use metal cookie cutters as molds. (could be tricky, but worth a try!) 


4. Great way to teach about converting solids to liquids and liquids to solids.

I hope you try it out and share how it worked for you and any suggestions you have.