This was a really fun and extremely easy project! My 18 month old has not been able to grasp (no pun intended) how to properly hold and use crayons yet. I even bought the thick triangular shaped crayons that are recommended for toddler hands. Nope didn’t work for us. This was next: creating our own crayons that are easier for her little hands to hold. WIN
Before shelling out more money for the good Crayola crayons I thought we’d try with some cheapo crayons from the dollar store. A box of 48 crayons for $1, um yes please. I also bought 2 muffin pans there so I didn’t have to use my good baking ones. Now we have craft pans that also work great for putting finger paint in!
First of all you’ll need to soak your crayons to get the paper off (this is the most tedious part) but I found it literally slipped right off after I soaked them in boiled water for about 15 minutes. (I just used boiled water from the kettle and poured it over the crayons in a bowl).
Once you have all the paper off, simply decide on your new crayon color schemes. I broke the crayons into pieces and filled the muffin tins about half way. Make sure you spray the tin with oil first.
Pop the tray into the oven at 250 degrees and keep checking every 5 minutes or so. It will depend on your oven how long they will need to be in there. I left mine in for about 18 minutes until the wax was completely melted.
Pull the tray out and let them cool completely before attempting to pop the crayons out of the pan. I left mine for about an hour then when I was sure they were completely hardened, I flipped the pan over and they popped out really easily.
My daughter was able to hold onto these crayons much easier! I taped a piece of scribble paper onto her little table and let her go crazy with her new crayons 🙂
As a bonus, we found a dual purpose for the new crayons: stacking! She just loves to stack these crayons and has been carrying them all over the house stacking them in various places.
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