States of Matter with Crayons

Today, we are sharing great ideas to do with crayons!! My kids loved this activity and I’m sure that you all will too. Plus, it’s a great use for all those broken up crayons at the end of the school year. Explore states of matter with crayons along with us!

By this time of the year, we always have lots of broken crayons. Plus, I happen to have a 4-year-old who loves to peel the paper off of crayons which leaves them all chipped and messy-looking. On a side note, when I need to keep her quiet, peeling crayons is a good option…

I hate to throw away the crayons, especially since I know that they can be put to good use. My mom used to melt crayons in an old metal ice cube tray and we would just keep using them!

I had the kids peel the wrappers off the crayons that still had them. Then they broke them into smaller pieces so they would fit in the silicone mold.

Note: We used the alphabet molds, but you can use just about anything. Muffin molds, figurines, etc.

After the kids had filled the molds with the crayons, I put them in the oven at 300˚F for about 10 minutes. Start watching them after a couple minutes and as soon as all the crayons are melted, remove the molds from the oven.

Be very careful as you remove the crayons as the wax is very hot.

My base tray got stuck in my very tiny RV oven, so a little bit of the wax splashed out of the molds, but other than that, the process is VERY simple.

Allow the crayons to harden in the molds.

To remove the new crayons from the molds, turn them over and gently pull the mold away from the crayons. Do not push the crayons unless they are very thick. They will break. Instead separate the mold from the crayon and pull the crayon out of the mold.

We talked about the states of matter as we went along and the process of going from solid to liquid to solid again.

An easy activity that helps kids see that states of matter does not only apply to water!