April 22nd is the celebration of Earth Day, a time to appreciate nature and the environment and find ways to keep the planet clean. One of the easiest ways to introduce this to kids is through the idea of "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle." How can we reduce the amount of trash we produce? How can we reuse or recycle things that we think aren't any good anymore?
This activity will help reinforce these environmental concepts as your kids find new uses for old crayons … those same crayons that they might have deemed "no good anymore!"
We used a 24-cup mini muffin tray, but you can use a standard muffin tin or metal cookie cutters with wax paper under them (place them on a cookie sheet for a stable bottom).
Find the old, broken, ready for the trash crayons, peel off any remaining labels and break the colors you would like into small pieces.
Spray your muffin tin or cookie cutters with non-stick cooking spray and fill with broken, peeled crayons.
Put in the oven (pre-heated to 275 degrees) for about 8 minutes. Some generic crayons will take longer to melt but keep an eye on them as it won't take long.
Once melted remove from the oven and let cool. Use a toothpick to swirl the colors if you want or leave alone to cool as is. You can place in the refrigerator or freezer to speed up the process.
Once cooled, flip the pan over and remove the new crayons. If you choose the cookie cutter method, just peel off the wax paper after the crayons are cooked and pop out of the mold.
These "new" crayons will be an instant hit in your house and you'll have helped reduce waste and reuse/recycle in the process!
