In February, the kids’ fun auntie decided to do Valentines Crayons with the kids. She collected restaurant crayons just for the occasion. You can also keep a junk jar for discarded or broken crayons.
All you do is peel the paper off and break the crayons into small pieces (so satisfying). Then pile those up in a silicone pan. We, fittingly, did a heart shaped one for the holiday. We filled the heart shapes on the floor so the kids could all take part.
When they were done (or when the baby was eating more crayons than he was breaking and the toddlers were starting to draw on the tile), we brought the pan up to the stovetop and filled up the remainder of the pieces and placed it on a cutting board. The cutting board helped for stability as we transferred it to a cookie sheet in the oven. I should note that you don’t put the cutting board in the oven. I have to say this because we moms are sleep deprived multi-tasking superstars who and have one eye on our kids when doing all the things. So we appreciate any and all helpful reminders.
Then auntie set the oven to 200 degrees for 10-minute increments. I would say it took about three increments of checking as they melted into swirly awesomeness. She also added a few extra crayon pieces as needed during this melting process.
I had to feed the baby during the step where she let the pan cool in the freezer for a bit before popping out the snazzy new DIY heart shaped crayons. So there are no pictures for that. But here’s the end result!
I like these heart crayons because, yeah, they’re super cute. But also because the baby doesn’t try to eat them. He actually draws with them! Anything that keeps the baby occupied for any amount of time is #winning in my book. Enjoy!