Upcycled Crayons

April is Earth month, a wonderful time to upcycle your very own crayons! Gather all of your old crayons to try a colorful way to practice the 3 R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle).

Supplies:

Old Crayons (paper removed)

Silicone Mold or Muffin Tin

Baking Tray

How to: 

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

2. While the oven is heating, break the crayons into small pieces. Sort them by color family if you prefer to make monochromatic crayons. Choose a variety of colors if you want multicolored crayons.

3. Place the mold onto a baking tray for stability. Fill the molds or muffin tin about halfway with crayon pieces.

4. Protecting your hands, put the baking tray into the oven on the middle rack for 5-20 minutes to melt the crayons. Time will depend on shape and depth of each mold, so check on the crayons every few minutes. Be careful not to get crayon pieces on the inside of the oven--they will smoke and burn.

5. When the crayons are fully melted, carefully remove the baking tray from the oven. Leave the crayons to cool for at least 30 mins-- longer for larger shapes. You could also try placing the mold in the freezer to speed the cooling process-- be careful not to spill hot wax!

6. When they are completely cool, remove the crayons from the molds, and use them for all of your coloring needs! 

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