I keep a goody box in my classroom. I use it to reward exceptionally great behavior, actions that demonstrate kindness and inclusivity and for brave performers that share with the class. I'm always looking for cool things to put in the box and this year I'm filling it with custom designed crayons! Read on to learn how to make them and to avoid some of the pitfalls that I fell into.
Several years ago, my friend Linda, from Floating Down the River, wrote about how much her students loved these crayons. Recently David Row, from Make Moments Matter, also wrote about his experiences making crayons. I was reminded of all of the molds that I bought and never used. Armed with old crayons, inspiration and a few seasons of the Gilmore Girls I set out to make my own crayons. Here's how to do it:
1. Gather Crayons
I always buy 30 new packs of crayons each year for my classroom and at the end of the year I dump them all in a bag and take them home to craft with or donate or whatever. If you don't have your own crayons, just put out an email at school or a post on Facebook requesting some. It doesn't matter what brand, if they a broken or what size they are. They all melt.
2. Sort the crayons by color. Don't get too picky here. All the various reds can go together and all the variety of blues can go together. I matched papers to decide what color group they belonged to. This worked well for me.
3. Get the paper off. I've heard a few ways to do this and I've hated them all. No kidding! This part just stinks. You could soak the crayons in warm water and peel the paper off. Soggy, yucky mess. You could take a knife or box cutter and cut the paper off. A pain in the booty. This is the method that I chose, but it made for a long, tedious task and I spent hours and hours doing it this way. I'd love to say that I have a great solution, but cutting the papers off with the utility knife worked better than other ways I tried.
4. Now you'll have baggies of similarly colored, paperless crayons. If you chose to cut the papers off, you might also have your crayons in small pieces already. If they aren't in small pieces, use a small hammer to break them into little pieces. You don't have to have hammer them to dust, but smaller pieces work better in the molds.
MOLDS: Before beginning this project you'll want to collect a few silicone molds in fun shapes. Make sure that your molds were designed to go in the oven. Most candy molds are, but you should check before you purchase them. Most of my molds are made by Wilton and are very sturdy and easy to use. Here are a few molds that I've used or can't wait to use on Amazon.
5. Load your molds with the crayon pieces. You'll want to put in enough so that it piles about the well. When they melt, it looks like much less.
6. Place the crayon filled molds onto a sheet pan and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350. WARNING: This stinks. Literally. It smells gross, but looks delightful.
7. Let them cool before turning the mold over and popping them out.
8. I decided to group my crayons together in little treat bags and add a themed saying to the bag. Some examples of what I used:
These stickers are Avery Label 22806 (These are on my suggested Amazon list.) You can get copies of the sticker templates that I created (and other freebies) by joining my email list. Just print them on the sticker paper and they are ready to go!
I hope you have a great time coloring your students world with music! If you like these ideas, PIN THEM for later.
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