a different kind of baking

Crayons - and for that matter markers, paints, chalk, and all other art supplies - are some of Grace's favorite things. So what to do with the gazillion little broken crayon pieces??? Turn them into "new" fun-shaped kaleidoscope crayons as we like to call them!

Definitely not a new idea, but oh, so easy and guaranteed to provide the littles with entertainment for at least an hour :)

I'm sure there's a bunch of different and more sophisticated ways to do this, but here's our VERY simple steps.

1. Designate an old muffin/cupcake pan as the "art baking pan" so that you don't confuse it with those you use for food consumption (nonstick works best, but not required). As you can see in the pics, ours is very old and rusty.

2. Peel off the paper off your crayon bits and pieces and break up any larger pieces into smaller stumps (Grace LOVES this part).

3. You can sort them by color, but we prefer a kaleidoscope effect for more fun, except the PINK ones, of course...Grace is very territorial about her pink :) 4. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and bake for approx. 15 minutes or until all the crayons have melted. They will look like this when you pull them out: 5. Let them cool off in the pan until they harden and then pop them out. If you're not using a nonstick pan, a few might break as you try to remove them (some of ours did, but we weren't going for perfection here!) 6. Voila! Fun-shaped kaleidoscope crayons ready for little fingers to tackle. Hint: These make fun party favors and preschool class gifts, especially if you use a theme pan like hearts, flowers, fish, etc. and stick to a more monochromatic color scheme.
Now go be creative!!