From ages 3 and up, crayons are a very kid-friendly and fun coloring tool. Plus they can be used in different ways to make all kinds of art and craft. One day, my 4 years old son was busy in coloring in his book and suddenly he asked - Mamma, why can’t I have just one piece of crayon that can change colors as I want? then I’ll not need a big box of crayons and I can do all my art work with just one magical crayon stick, right?” “Hmmmm…..sure Angad”, I said, “that would be great. That’s when I started researching it and found out, that quite frankly, its not that hard to make. It sounded like a fun experiment to do with my son.

Melting crayons not only allows you to reuse old broken crayons, but also to create crayon wax which can be molded into different shapes and patterns. The concept is simple – melt your old crayons and let them reform and harden into a color-combination that you like. You can make solid color crayons or mix up two colors, or even several colors for the multi-colored ones.

Melting crayons is meant to be a spectator craft for kids, as the melting crayon wax can be very hot and dangerous. Adult supervision and help is necessary.

For this method to melt crayons, you need to use a microwaveable container, that the crayons will not stick to. Baby food jars, microwave-friendly trays or even paper cups will do.

This is a great activity to do with kids and explain scientific processes to them. Its a relatively simple DIY project with beautiful results that young scientists and artists can relish in.

Supplies

8 to 10 old and broken crayons

1 paper glass / cup

Step 1: Remove Paper Covering and Cut the Crayon Into Small Pieces

Take your old or broken crayons and remove any paper covering them. If its hard to pull off the color wrappers, just dip them in a bowl of warm water and leave it for 2-3 minutes. The paper wrappers will fall off themselves. Now take a sharp knife and cut each crayon into small pieces..