Upcycling Crayons

After seeing many fellow art teachers post how they melt their short and broken crayons into new multi-colored crayons I decided to finally get around to trying it out.  I found a gingerbread shaped silicone baking sheet at my local Hobby Lobby store.  I thought the gingerbread man could easily be thought of as a Keith Haring figure, which seemed to make sense for the art room.


I had read somewhere to soak the crayons over night in water.  This helps make it easier to peel the paper from the crayons.
This really does work!

Next comes the sorting of crayons by color harmonies and then placing them into the molds in the silicone tray.  I baked my crayons at 220 degrees, for about 25 minutes.  Allow them to cool and peel mold away from crayon.  Presto!  Beautiful, colorful shaped crayons!

I am planning on using the crayons I created for prizes in the classroom for art trivia questions or for project review.

This whole process does take a bit of time, but it is a pretty calming activity for a lazy Sunday afternoon.