| What mother of preschoolers or other children hasn't | | | | Dribble or paint the melted wax onto paper or into |
| found broken crayons in the couch, under the couch, | | | | old candy molds. You can also dribble or pour melted |
| and all over the floor? You may even have been | | | | wax on wet sand. |
| frustrated to find a crayon in the laundry, way after | | | | Color on Fabric: On a blank sheet of paper, create a |
| it's too late to salvage the clothes in that load. Help | | | | design you'd like to have on a T-shirt or other piece |
| your child create crayon wax-melting art to keep | | | | of fabric. Color the design heavily, using plenty of |
| from having to throw all the broken crayons away. | | | | crayon. Set your iron to cool and allow it to heat up. |
| Melted wax is dangerous for anyone, especially for | | | | Place newspaper between the layers of fabric so the |
| children. Please be careful when trying any of the | | | | colors don't bleed through. Then iron the paper until |
| following crayon wax-melting art projects. Adult | | | | the design shows through. For best results, use |
| supervision is definitely a must for melted wax artists. | | | | 100% synthetic fabrics. |
| Here's how to do it: | | | | Sun catchers: Children love the colors that are thrown |
| In the oven: Set your oven to 250 degrees. Create | | | | across the room through sun catchers. You can help |
| new crayons by melting the old broken pieces. Break | | | | your child create a melted crayon wax sun catcher. |
| the pieces up into smaller pieces and sort the | | | | Give your child a pencil sharpener and let them make |
| crayons with like colors. Place the crayon pieces into | | | | crayon shavings. Fold a large sheet of wax paper and |
| an old muffin tin. Put the tin into the oven and then | | | | sprinkle crayon shavings on half of it. With a warm |
| turn the oven off. Watch the crayons so they don't | | | | iron, run the iron over the wax paper quickly. Allow |
| melt entirely. When the crayons have melted | | | | the wax paper to cool and then cut it into various |
| sufficiently, remove them from the oven and then | | | | shapes. Make butterflies or flowers with holes in |
| place the tin into the freezer for half an hour. Take | | | | them where you can tape the melted crayon wax |
| the tin out and then pop the new, larger crayons out. | | | | sun catcher on the back so the light and colors shine |
| Double Boiler: Another way to melt peeled crayons is | | | | through. |
| over a double boiler. Use an old pan that you were | | | | Let the artist come out in your child. However, since |
| going to throw away. Get a larger pot and place | | | | you're working with crayon wax-melting art, be sure |
| water in the pot to boil. Put the old pan into the | | | | to supervise closely to keep your child from injury. |
| water so it floats. Put the crayons into the upper pan | | | | The artwork they create will spread colorful light |
| and allow them to melt. You can then use a ladle or | | | | across your room and into your heart. |
| measuring cup to remove small amounts of wax. | | | | |