Melting crayons into shapes

With a snow storm raging outside, the preschooler and I did some crafting and cooking while the toddler slept.

I had seen this crayon idea a few times on Pinterest – melting old crayons into silicon trays in fun shapes for new crayons.   had picked up some heart shaped ice trays at Target last year.  Connor and Amelia had also received some small car and bear shaped ones for Christmas.  After Alfie and Santa both delivered a TON of new crayons, today seemed the perfect day to try it.

Melting crayons

The first thing that I learned is that peeling crayons is not a job for preschoolers and toddlers!  So we took in  a few cartoons and I peeled away.  I broke up crayons to make into smaller pieces and had to cut up a few with a kitchen knife.  I let Connor create the colors combinations and just filled in to make sure they were nice and full.

I put them on a old cookie sheet and “baked” them in the oven at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.  Definitely some brands took longer to melt than others.  Then I put the whole tray out on the porch to cool for about a hour or so.  It is a very cold day!

Melted and cooling

The bears were by far the cutest – and I thought that they would be the most difficulty to get out whole since there was more detail.  But the cars were tough because the wheels kept breaking off.  The hearts were cute, but I am not sure that that the trays were the best quality and I am not sure that they will hold up to any other projects.  I am going to have to look carefully at what I purchase in the future!

The final product!

Connor and I talked a lot about the way that the crayons melted in the heat of the oven and harden out in the cold on the porch – so art and science!  Not bad for a day we were snowed in!

Why yes, they are still in their jamas!

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