The Imagination Tree

Creative play and learning for kids

DIY: Rainbow Crayons!

by

This is one of those lovely ideas that I have seen around the internet so often, and have wanted to try for a while now. I finally ended up with a plethora of cheap crayons recently so recycled about 12 of them to make these cute little rainbow shape crayons using ice cube trays for moulds.
I peeled and broke up around 12 different coloured crayons, using a knife. Then, together, we dropped the pieces into some shaped ice cube trays (£1 each from Ikea) until each hole was full.

 I put them in  the oven on low, around 100 degrees C (roughly 200 F), for 10-15 minutes. At least, this is what I *should* have done! I actually completely messed it up due to my impatience, by turning the oven up to 150 degrees C after about 5 minutes as I was going out and wanted them to melt quickly! Suffice to say, the silicone trays started to melt and I had to get them out of the oven pretty quickly! At 100 I think they would be fine, as I’ve made salt dough shapes this way in the past.

 Still, after all that drama and hoo-ha, (with me wafting fumes out of the kitchen door!) the resulting crayons were pretty darn cute!

 The jig-saw puzzle pieces are my favourite and can actually fit together.

 Some of the marbleising that occurred looked beautiful.

 And the little fishies were pretty sweet too, until some tails snapped off!

 Here’s the result of using the crayons on their corners and their sides on paper.

I think these could make a lovely, very inexpensive present for a little preschooler in your life! Tied up with multi-coloured ribbon and a little notebook attached.

Comments

  3. maggy, red ted art says

    Oooh your ice cube trays were ok in the oven? How cool! 🙂 we haven’t *quite* yet accumulated too many crayons to have a go, but I always love seeing them being recycled like this. Love your shapes. Especially the puzzle!

    Thank you for linking up to Kids Get Crafty!

    Maggy

  4. liniecat says

    I wonder if the ice cube trays shouldnt now be used for (consumable)ice though? lol You may poison the gin with the crayons toxins, if they have any, now heated into the trays?
    Love the jigsaw-y ones best of all…….great fun!

  5. Wendy says

    Ooh that’s a really interesting idea, I’d never have thought to do that with crayons!
    My 4 and 7 year old love colouring, so I will definitely have a go at making these sometime! 🙂

  6. Ellie says

    They are just so lovely, what a great idea, they would make a lovely birthday gift, I definitely need to have a go at this. Thanks Anna for another great idea.

  7. Mama Pea Pod says

    Oh, we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE making crayons this way! Although in our last attempt I used cheap supermarket silicone ice cube trays and they melted, even at low heat. Glad to hear the IKEA ones work, as I’ve got a new one in my cupboard I recently got for just this purpose.

    I really find that the chunkiness of the crayons makes them so easy for the littlest tots to use without much pressure, don’t you?

  8. Hannah says

    Love this idea – especially the shapes you used. My daughter is still a bit young to appreciate these though and would probably just eat them. I can’t wait to try it out when she is a bit older!

  9. Valerie says

    This brings back wonderful memories of melting crayons into wax and filling up yogurt pots to make candles for my granny 🙂

  11. Shana says

    Hi Anna,
    This is a great idea! I would love to pass on the “Versatile Blogger Award” to you because I think your blog is full of creative projects for kids. I have used a few myself and will about some on my FB page. I hope you will accept. If you do, here are the rules: The rules after accepting the Versatile Blogger Award are:
    1. Thank the person who gave the award and link back to them in your post.
    2. Share 7 things about yourself.
    Pass this award along to 7 other blogs you think deserve the Versatile Blogger Award.

    Congrats and Happy Blogging!

    My link for the award: http://blog.writerslairbooks.com/2011/08/red-carpet-lights-camera/

  15. Anonymous says

    Just found skull and cross bone slicone trays in the Halloween section of pound land. Great for any little boys! 🙂

  16. Anna8 says

    Just a heads up, the IKEA (and most dollar store ones I’ve encountered) aren’t silicone. I had to hunt to find any, the only ones I’ve found in that sort of size were for hard candies and chocolates. (Worth it though!)

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