Your kids will LOVE making these easy homemade alphabet crayons! They’re just as fun to make as they are to use!
Turn your broken crayons into easy homemade alphabet crayons
I have been doing this same activity since I was a kid, and I am still dazzled by it 30+ years later!
There’s something that feels ✨magical ✨ about watching small pieces of crayons melt together to make something bigger, better, and even more beautiful.
Related: Use crayons + any of your other favorite drawing supplies on our GIANT 10-foot coloring page banners, too!
Kids love making easy homemade alphabet crayons
Making crayons will forever be one of my favorite activities to do with our preschoolers.
From beginning to end, kids can be hands-on with various parts, and they’re captivated.
When done, you can use your crayons for drawing + art or add them to sensory tables. Endless options!
Looking for more crayon activities? These will color your world:
- DIY Valentine’s Day Crayons – Friends Art Lab
- Melted Crayon Pumpkin – The Best Ideas for Kids
- Crayon Push Activity – Busy Toddler
- Printable Coloring Pages for Kids – Friends Art Lab
Materials
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- Crayons – any color, any size
- Silicone alphabet mold
- Oven
- Baking sheet – optional
- Hot water – optional
How to make homemade alphabet crayons
PART 1: Remove paper from crayons
To make your own homemade alphabet crayons, you first need your crayons to have all of the paper removed.
You can peel the paper directly off the crayons, but sometimes the paper is stuck on well, and removing it can take a lot of time and effort.
Our favorite method is to soak the crayons in hot water for about 15 minutes, then remove them and peel the paper off.
Note: Hot water can be dangerous for young kids, so supervise the entire time so they do not touch it.
PART 2: Fill molds & bake
Break your crayons into small pieces and fill the alphabet molds.
You can break your crayons with your fingers (excellent fine motor practice for your kids!), or you can break them by hitting them with something hard (ex: crayons in a plastic bag then hit with a rolling pin like we did).
Push the crayon pieces down as best as you can. Slightly overfill your molds because the crayons will melt down and fill the gaps between crayon pieces.
I like putting my crayon-filled mold on a baking dish so that it stays flat and doesn’t spill when I put it in and take it out of the oven.
Bake at 250 degrees for 10-20 minutes. The fuller the molds, the longer it will take. I bake for eight minutes, then check back every two minutes until everything melts.
Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Once cooled and solid, remove from the mold and color away!
How do you make melted crayon names?
To make melted crayon names, fill the letters of a child’s name in the mold.
Personalized crayons make for an adorable, thoughtful, homemade gift for kids.
Because kids can help make the alphabet crayons, this is an adorable activity for kids to help make gifts for other kids, too.
Easy homemade alphabet crayons are the best
They’re fun, exciting, engaging, and useful.
We love keeping broken crayons from the trash and giving them extra purpose and life!
FAQ
Any that can safely enjoy the process. We make crayons with our 3-6 year old preschoolers with supervision from beginning to end.
No! You can buy and use fresh, new crayons!
It can vary, but usually over an hour or two. You could leave these to cool overnight to be extra safe!
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