Melted Crayon Art

I remember making melted crayon art in preschool, and it was one of my absolute favorite things to do! After a rather cranky day all around, I decided to get things set up and invite the boys to do some creating. I joined them of course, trust me you won't be able to resist!

I learned a great tip from my sister about doing art projects. Have one of the boys involved at a time. It has made doing art so much more fun, and relaxing. We still do plenty of projects together, but if it's more involved or a small space in required, I have them trade off to help keep the peace.

I used our electric skillet and wrapped the pan in tin foil to protect the surface. I would recommend having your little ones wear long sleeves to protect their arms from the edges of the skillet. I found that 275 degrees was about right to melt the crayons. We used white paper that was a bit heavier that printer paper, but lighter that cardstock. It said it was watercolor paper but it doesn't have a shiny finish on it.

Pull out all of your broken crayons, heat up your skillet, and start creating!

 J experimented by setting several crayons on his paper and leaving them there. It created some really amazing art but the wax was really thick and it tends to break and flake off. I also had an idea to use all of our art for a follow up project and the thicker creations didn't work.

 We also tried using a paintbrush for some added fun when there was thicker wax areas, everyone preferred to just color with the crayons though.

 The clear base that is used in the crayons soaked into the paper giving it an oiled appearance while the color stayed on top. When you help the papers up to the light it shined through like stained glass. So pretty and so much fun!

The boys took several turns at the skillet and I finally put it away when I had to get dinner ready. All together they spent FOUR HOURS(!) creating melted crayon art. No other activity has been so successful at keeping the boys interested for so long.

I can't wait to show you what we did with our art!