Recycled Crayons!

We go through a lot of things here at The Children’s Museum of Memphis. In our Art Smart Studio we had a tub of crayon nubs. They were still useful so we didn’t want to throw them away, but…they were nubs. So we did the next best thing! We recycled them! It’s super easy to do. All you need is a cupcake tin, an oven (we used a toaster oven) and old stubby nubby crayons.

First, remove all the paper from the crayons. While you are removing the paper, it’s a good time to pre-heat the oven to 275 degrees. Most of the paper from ours was already missing. After the paper wrapper is removed, sort the crayons into different colors. Unless you want rainbow crayons, then just toss them in the cupcake tin. Once sorted fill the cupcake tin about ¾ of the way.

Place the crayons into the oven for about 10 minutes, or until they look melted. It doesn’t take long. When they are finished take them out and let them cool for about 15-20 minutes.

We used cupcake liners for most of them. It’s easier to pop them out. If you don’t have cupcake liners, I’d suggest greasing the pan just a bit. We’ve found that these recycled crayons fit better with younger hands, and they’re perfect for our tots who are developing their motor skills!