Crayons make crayons

While going through my collection of craft ideas, I came across the idea of melting used crayons down in a muffin tin and then letting them harden into new crayons. I thought: What a great way to use what we already have in the classroom and jazz it up into something "new". (I'm all about how minimalist true joy can be ...)

So, here's what it looked like:

Sorting out paperless crayons into color groups
(Don't worry, I have more plans for those crayon wrappers...)

Hammering down each set of crayons into little pieces

Combining crayon bits in different color combinations

Warming the crayons to melting point in our toaster oven ... pretty gooey!
As I held each child to see the process, I asked them what they saw happening. "It's melting!" they said. "Melting? What's that?!" I asked. They have, as yet, been hard pressed to explain what melting means, except for one, who said, "It's like the crayons start to flow over each other."


Once cooled, unwrapping our new crayons


And ... COLOR!!

This activity has been a huge hit, though I've noticed you need to do it with just four or five kids at a time. Otherwise, everyone is waiting a looooong time for their turn to hammer and pick out their crayon colors. Plus, with some potential hazards (hammer and toaster oven), too many kids means too many opportunities to be distracted, and that is never a risk I'm willing to take. Four kids worked really well, and now, every day, a new set of preschoolers make something new out of something old and get all excited all over again ...