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How to Melt Homemade Crayons in the Sun

June 26, 2015 Amy 14 Comments

School is out and my kindergartener has brought home a box full of broken crayons.

What can you do with broken crayons?

We usually just dump them in another box of broken crayons for him to create his colorful masterpieces.

The small broken crayons never really get used, since no one can actually hold them. Not even his small little hands can hold a nub of a crayon. I hate to just throw things out. There is always a use for them, so I decided why not make new crayons. I didn’t want to turn on the oven during summer, so we made up a tray and left them in the sun and this is what happened.

Homemade Crayons

How to melt homemade crayons in the sun

(affiliate links have been used throughout this post. I may receive a few pennies if you make a purchase.)

Supplies for Homemade Crayons

Broken left over crayons
Muffin Tin Liners (these are the ones I recommend)
Mini Muffin Tin
Sun

Directions on How to Make Homemade Crayons

Homemade melted crayons in the sun

1. First take off all the paper of the little nubs of crayons or find the little broken bits in your child’s school box. This is the most time consuming part, but I bet you have tons of unused crayons lying around your house. These colors want to be used too. Don’t throw them away repurpose them in to something new.

Broken Homemade Crayons in a muffin tin.

2. Next line a muffin tin like this one or mini muffin tin just like this one with two layers of muffin tin liners. The darker the pan the better. Also go for non stick for easy cleanup. I highly recommend muffin tin liners just like these. You will thank me later.

3. Fill the tin with all your little broken bits of crayons. I used blue and green for ocean colors and yellow, orange and red for the sun colors. Leave out in the sun during the middle of the day on a dark black surface for at least two hours in temperatures above 90 degrees. I really thought we would need hotter temperatures to melt the crayons. However, these melted in about 90 degree weather just fine. If they are not completely melted after two hour just leave them out there a little longer.  This also is a fun science experiment to go check on them about every 15 minutes to see the progress.

4. Bring inside to cool for about an hour or place the pan in the fridge for a few minutes to harden. Simply pop them out of the paper liners and color away. Or these are fun to give as gifts or party favors.

How to make Homemade Crayons in the sun

How do you melt crayons into new crayons?

Now these old used up colors have new life again. Who knew it would be so easy to make homemade crayons. We love to throw in a random color in each one. Instead of just blues and greens, we would throw in a yellow just for little different color combination. After the crayons are all melted, take a toothpick and swirl the colors around for a unique crayon. You can also try making different shapes like these heart shaped crayons or crayon fish for another easy craft to use up old crayons. Check out these clever crafts for kids you can try to make too.

If you make these soon, tag me on social media with @MainlyHomemade or use the hashtag #mainlyhomemade. I would love to see what you create!

Crafts, Kids, Recycled crayons, recycle

About Amy

Amy Greene has a passion for creating items from scratch. She created Mainly Homemade to inspire families to cook homemade meals and create homemade crafts to create lifelong family memories. Receive creative family memories in your inbox.

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Comments

  1. Jelli says

    July 4, 2015 at 7:38 am

    I love this! My kids don’t have too many destroyed crayons yet, but when we get them I’ll be sure to try this. Thankfully, here in Costa Rica I think I could make these year round.

    Reply
  2. Margaret says

    July 6, 2015 at 12:03 pm

    Fun idea! I was wondering what I could do with all my extra little crayons.

    Reply
  3. Jenn @ EngineerMommy says

    July 7, 2015 at 11:45 am

    Now I know what to do with all those crayon shards all over the place! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply
  4. neblina says

    May 7, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    Could we do oven on 150 degress?

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 7, 2018 at 4:31 pm

      You could try this. I have not done it. Please let me know how it turns out.

      Reply
  5. Teresa says

    May 27, 2019 at 5:44 pm

    I just bought a huge box of used crayons for a few dollars. Many of them were broken, but I knew I could melt them to create new crayons. However I didn’t know that you could melt them in the sun. In south Georgia we get plenty of hot days so this summer I’ll be making them for the autistic children that I teach.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 28, 2019 at 10:34 am

      That sounds fantastic, Teresa. I am sure they will enjoy making these. Please tag me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, so I can see your creations!

      Reply

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