Sun Melted Crayons

(40 Months)

It's been so hot, that we were joking that we could probably melt crayons.  The joke was on us, because we did melt crayons!  Instead of turning on your oven during these hot-hot-hot summer months, just fill your silicon moulds with crayon bits and leave them outside for a few hours in the baking (hee hee) hot sun.

Like most of you, we save all of our little crayon bits in a jar until we have enough to make NEW crayons.  We purchased this heart silicone mould from the Dollar Tree, but we also found really inexpensive ones (costing less than a dollar at IKEA).  Please keep in mind that once you use your mould for crayons, you might not be able to use it for anything else though.  Sometimes all of the wax doesn't come out.

If you have never made melted crayons before.  It's really quick and easy.  Especially the sun-baked version.

Start by giving the crayons a rough chop.  We have found that standard Crayola crayons work best- over the other brands and the washable version.  Crayola's melt easier and the colors are more vibrant when melted.

Let the kidabunks fill their moulds.  I originally wanted to do a lesson here on mixing primary crayon bits to make secondary colors.  They had other plans.

Place your moulds in the sun and allow to bake for a few hours or until the crayons are melted.  We did this on a 92 degree day and they were done melting in three hours.  Another wonderful option, is while they are still melted to use a toothpick to either swirl the colors or completely mix the colors.

                                                       Before                                                After

Allow to dry overnight and gently pop them out of their moulds.  So easy.

Enjoy!