Step 1:

Peel all the paper off of your old crayons.  Have an adult cut the crayons into pea-sized pieces.

Step 2:

Arrange the crayons in a non-stick muffin pan (or use one of the animal variations described below), filling each cup to one ½ inch from the top.  This is where you can get creative – keep solid colors separate, or mix them together for a rainbow swirl!

Step 3:

Heat oven to 250 degrees and place muffin tin in oven.  Turn off the heat when the crayons have melted but DO NOT remove the muffin tin from the oven until the crayons are completely cooled. (The colors will get muddy in appearance if the crayons are touched before they cool down).

Step 4:

Crayons will pop out if you lightly tap the bottom of each muffin cup.  If they stick to the pan, put them in the freezer for an hour and try again!

For animal-shaped crayons:

Follow same basic procedure, but use animal-shaped metal cookie cutters on a flat cookie sheet lined with foil to make fun zoo shapes!

OR

Put crayon stubs into small paper cups and microwave for about 4-6 minutes on ‘high’ (length of time dependent on microwave strength).  Pour liquid wax into animal candy molds and freeze for 20 minutes, or until the wax has completely hardened.  The crayons should pop right out of the molds, and you’ll have an afternoon of fun ahead of you!