How to Melt Crayons in a Muffin Pan

Crayons are an entertainment staple in homes with small children. These much loved art supplies can quickly wear down or break. Rather than throwing all of your crayon pieces away, you can prepare them for reuse as brand new crayon pucks, perfect for toddler-size hands and creative craft projects.

Things You'll Need

• Crayons
• Cooking spray
• Muffin pan
• Butter knife

Instructions

1. Collect a variety of used, broken crayons or crayon stubs that are too short to color with anymore.

2. Peel the paper off of the crayons. If you want your finished crayon pucks to each have a uniform color, sort your crayons as you peel them. Colors such as dark blue and purple are nearly indistinguishable from one another after the wrappers are removed.

3. Break the crayons into small pieces, about 1 inch or shorter.

4. Spray a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with foil. Fill each section of the pan with crayon pieces. You can sort the pieces by color, or mix a variety of colors together for a fun, swirled effect.

5. Heat the oven to 265 degrees F. Place the muffin pan in the oven. Check on the crayons every 10 minutes and remove when they have a gelatin-like consistency. Cooking time will vary depending on the size and quantity of the crayon pieces.

6. Set the pan aside to cool. Do not move on to the next step until the pan is completely cooled and the crayon pucks have solidified.

7. Turn the pan over and tap the bottom to help dislodge the crayon pucks. If they do not come out easily, run a butter knife around the edges to loosen them from the pan.

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment with different color combinations and enlist your child's help in selecting fun colors to try together.

References

• Reuse Those Old, Broken Crayons
• Make Your Own Chunky Crayons for Toddlers
• "The Complete Tightwad Gazette;" Amy Dacyczyn; 1998