Crayons

I was inspired by a blog post on one of my favorite blogs to make some homemade crayons with the kiddos. Well, they're not so much "homemade" as they are "re-made". :) It was a fun little activity for a rainy day and the kids really enjoyed it. (Unfortunately, my camera battery died right as I took it out, so I don't have any pictures of the kids helping with this like I wanted.... all these pics are taken after the fact. Lame.)

We started by sorting all the broken crayons out of the crayon box.



Then we peeled all the papers off...



..and stuck them in molds. (I was planning to buy these from IKEA, but found them at Good Will last week. Nice!)



I was kind of surprised by how much the kids loved this part, but I guess it was kind of like a game, matching up colors and creating patterns. Look at me... doing a craft and reviewing math concepts at the same time. :)



Then we put them in the oven and let them get all nice and melty.



*At this point, tragedy struck. The blue heart mold says IKEA on it, but the orange star mold doesn't and I guess it was a lame knock-off because it melted through on the bottom. So, yeah... I got liquid crayon all over my oven, kitchen floor, counters and oven mits as I pulled it out. Luckily, liquid crayon wipes up pretty well as long as it's still hot, and whatever was left over was cleaned away by Mr. Clean magic erasers. Those things are life savers! Moral of the story: Put the molds on a cookie sheet or tin foil.... or make sure your molds aren't cheap knock-offs. :)



After they've cooled for a while, pop them right out and they're ready to use!





And there you go! Crayons in fun shapes for a rainy day.