If you have kids, you have crayons! Kids and crayons seem to go hand and hand, and if your home is like most with little ones, you have an abundance of broken and discarded crayons in desperate search of a new home. Your first instinct may be to pitch these pieces of colorful wax, but hang on a second there. Take a look below at ways to use old or broken crayons and give those crayons a new and purposeful life.
Craft some summer bonfire starters.
Remove the paper and melt the crayons in a microwave safe dish. You can then pour the colorful wax over some dried pine cones. Place the pinecones in a bag until needed. When you are ready, just light the pinecone and toss it into your fire! These would also look decorative in a basket near the fireplace.
Make mini crayons.
Remove the paper and break up the crayons into bits. Use non stick spray to coat the inside of a muffin tin, then add the broken bits. Heat at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the bits are melted. Allow to cool, then pop out your newly formed mini crayons.
Make some instant wall art.
Peel the paper from the crayons and glue them to some canvas. Use a hair dryer to melt the wax and send it in all sorts of colorful directions. The end result is some excellent instant art! This is a craft kids will love.
Make your own paint.
Melt crayon bits into muffin tins (350 for about 10 minutes will do the trick) and use it to paint while it is still warm. Use paintbrushes, as the liquid will be too hot to touch the fingers.
Make some fossils.
Grab items in nature such as rocks, bark, and leaves. Press some paper over them and use the flat side of a crayon to rub over them. In seconds “fossils” will appear on your paper. Create rubbings using all sorts of textures.
Make a drawer slide.
If your drawers or doors are sticky, you can use the wax from crayons to make them slide. Just rub the crayon along the sticky joint and it will coat it, helping it slide along.
Make colorful shavings.
Run the crayons segments through a pencil sharpener to create some colorful shavings. You can then use them in collages and other artwork ideas. Chances are, your kids will find a million ways to use them.
See how many practical uses there are for old crayons? Give some of these ideas a try!
Make sure you check out some of our other craft ideas here at Imperfect Women.
Liz Mays says
April 23, 2015 at 12:43 pmThese are awesome ideas. I’m pretty sure I have a container full of half-used crayons somewhere.
Sarah Bailey says
April 23, 2015 at 12:52 pmWhat some awesome ideas, I love the melting crayon art it always looks so awesome.
Jeanine says
April 23, 2015 at 12:53 pmGreat ideas! I love that there are so many things that can be done with Crayons! Who knew. They are pretty fabulous!
Mama to 5 BLessings says
April 23, 2015 at 12:56 pmLove the wall art. I so need to do this with my kids – that is cool!
coolchillmom says
April 23, 2015 at 1:26 pmI have so many pieces of crayons that I am glad to read your post. I am loving the pine cone Idea but will try them all out. I have that many bits of crayons!
Theresa says
April 23, 2015 at 1:41 pmI have a ton of old crayons around here. I love all these ideas! Especially the pine cone coloring! I do think they would brighten up a fire place area!
Heather says
April 23, 2015 at 2:45 pmI love making crayon shapes with old crayons. The art project looks fun.
Amber NElson says
April 23, 2015 at 3:49 pmThose are great ideas. I would have never known about this!
Lois Alter Mark says
April 23, 2015 at 5:55 pmThese are awesome! I think every family has tons of old, broken crayons!
toughcookiemommy says
April 23, 2015 at 7:49 pmThese are some great ideas. I have so many boxes of old and broken crayons put away in my classroom that I think would be perfect for some of these activities.
celebbabylaundry says
April 23, 2015 at 8:09 pmThis is so genius, what a great way to put those old broken crayons to actual use; thanks for this great idea!
Lesley says
April 23, 2015 at 8:19 pmThese are great uses for broken crayons. I like the last piece of art that was made with the melting crayons, that is very cool looking. I would hang that up at home.
Annie M says
April 23, 2015 at 9:35 pmI need crayons to melt! I love that hairdryer idea 🙂
michelle elizondo says
April 24, 2015 at 7:32 amgreat idea
Angela says
April 24, 2015 at 7:58 amWhat a shame to waste broken crayons. You have given me some great ideas here.
Aisha Kristine Chong says
April 24, 2015 at 9:06 amWonderful. I wish I could have done this to my crayons way back.
Kim Hampton says
April 24, 2015 at 9:18 amGreat ideas!
Ourfamilyworld says
April 24, 2015 at 11:52 amThose are amazing ideas to use crayons. I like the idea of wall
Marthalynn says
April 24, 2015 at 12:56 pmI love these ideas! I can’t tell you how many crayons we’ve thrown away. I had no idea there were so many creative uses. Now I know for next time!
Veronica says
April 24, 2015 at 8:05 pmMy daughter uses crayons fro some of her art too! I love that idea
Lisa Rios says
April 24, 2015 at 8:28 pmWhat a great idea! I really love this craft ideas, especially making crayon shapes with old crayons and the melting crayon art. My kids would definitely love to do this kind of fun crafts. Thanks for sharing it.
Lily@IW says
April 25, 2015 at 7:01 pmI have no idea how many old and broken crayons I have thrown away in my lifetime. It would probably suffice a large daycare.
I really like the bonfire starters. They are pretty and handy.
Chrissy Mazzocchi says
April 26, 2015 at 8:20 amI really love the colorful shavings idea, that’s so pretty!
Sandra Watts says
April 27, 2015 at 1:22 pmGreat ideas and there are always plenty of broken crayons to go around.
Dandi D says
April 28, 2015 at 11:47 amThese are some really neat ideas to try with my son!
Dale Hunsberger says
April 29, 2015 at 11:34 amThese are great tips! I just came across a bunch of my grandkids broken crayons – I think they are all over the age of coloring, sooooooo, maybe grandma will get creative!
Lindsey L says
April 29, 2015 at 12:29 pmI love these ideas!
Emily Endrizzi says
May 3, 2015 at 1:07 amAwesome ideas! I love the bonfire starters. They are cute enough just to use as decoration! I have sooooo many broken crayons and I usually just end up throwing them away, but these ideas are so much better (and more fun)!
Deborah Caudill says
May 5, 2015 at 1:41 pmThese are some great ideas and I especially love the one about melting the crayons on the pinecones.
margaret peg m says
May 10, 2015 at 9:41 pmhi, i have a pinterest page devoted to just this. so many colorful and creative ideas that i never thought of before! kudos.
Laurie P says
June 6, 2015 at 10:20 amWe’ve always got broken crayons in the house….love the pine cone idea, especially for xmas ornaments!
debbie says
August 28, 2015 at 9:51 amI thought I was pretty good about up cycling or recycling stuff but hadnt thought of this Fantastic ideas thanks
Shakeia Rieux says
June 12, 2017 at 8:38 pmThose are great ideas! I always toss out the broken crayons, but now that I know what I can do with them I won’t be tossing them out
wendy browne says
June 17, 2017 at 4:14 pmThe pine cone is super cute! Between my dog and my toddler, we have a ton of broken crayons.