If you have children in the house then you probably have a lot of broken crayons lying all over the house. They’re in your kids’ toy chests, their desks, in their bags. There may even be a lot of crayons hidden in the nooks and crannies of the house. The most common reaction when you see broken crayons that you think are unusable is to throw them away. But before you do that, do you know that there are a lot of creative ways for you to use those crayons? Here are some things you can do with crayons you’ve found.
Wax paper decorations
Tell your kids to make crayon plaques. All they need to do is to shave the crayons and then bond them in between two sheets of wax paper. Using a warm flat iron (you should do this or assist your kids so they won’t get burns) press on the wax paper until the crayons melt and bond together. Allow the melted crayon to dry before you ask them to draw shapes on to the colorful crayon plaques. The kids can then cut the plaque when it has completely hardened. After cutting, remove the wax paper and use the shapes as decorations in their room.
Rainbow crayons.
Sort the broken crayons based on the similarity of colors or their relation in the color wheel. Bake the crayons in the oven for about ten minutes or until you see the crayons begin to blend together. Allow the crayons to cool down and harden then put it into a plastic candy mold. Microwave the crayons until it begins to assume the shape of the mold.
You can make big crayons that the kids can use to color huge pieces of paper or in the backyard. You can also let your imagination run wild by shaping the crayons in different cookie molds. Kids will love to use crayons in the shape of hearts or stars. You can add glitter to the crayon when baking them to make it look more appealing to kids. Make enough of these crayons and you can even use it as a party favor in your kids’ birthdays.
Candle art
This is a project that will require adult supervision but the results are quite beautiful. Put a candle on the mouth of a used wine bottle, making sure that the bottle has been thoroughly cleaned and the label removed. Light the candle and ask your child to hold a crayon near the flame. The crayon will begin to melt and the slowly run down the bottle, creating pretty swirls of color as you use different crayons all over the sides.
Image from flickr.com