Here’s a fun one for the whole family.

What do you do with those boxes of old, heavily used (but loved) crayons?  You turn them into a DYI project with the kids!  They can be melted down and turned into great recycled, different shaped writers that your young and older children can both enjoy.

Here’s what you need:

1. Kitchen knife
2. Old crayons
3. Mini –cake or muffin tins (cute heart or various shapes are fun!)

Directions:

1. Parents use the knife to chop crayons in to pea-size pieces. Have the kids help remove any remaining paper.
2. Preheat oven to 150 degrees
3. Have children fill tins with crayon pieces, mixing colors to make cool designs.
4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or just until the wax has melted
5. Remove the shaped crayons after they have cooled.  If they stick to the tray, place in the freezer for an hour and they will pop out.

Tip:  If you don’t want to devote your tins to the melted wax, line them with tin foil

Now you and your kids can color away!