A long time ago I read somewhere about using all those old, unwanted crayons in the bottom of the crayon basket. It was suggested to take the crayons and turn them into muffin tin crayons. So, we tried it today and I have to say I like how they turned out! I googled the activity just to be sure we were doing it right - we followed the directions from this site.
First, you have your children gather up all the extra old crayons they can find (this stage took my kids about 15 minutes).
Then, (and this is the time consuming part) have them peel all the paper off the crayons. I left my two on the sofa watching Electric Company and I went to take a shower and get dressed. They were still peeling when I got back - so I helped them finish.
Does this count as fine motor practice for my kindergartner?
Once we were finished I would say we had about forty crayons, which we then broke into thirds (or thereabouts!).
We then put the crayons into muffin tins, being sure to put about 1/4 tsp. of vegetable oil in the bottom of each tin.
After baking them at 275 degrees for about 8 minutes, this is what it looked like (after the kids had stirred them gently with a toothpick)
We ate our lunch while the crayons cooled, and then just turned the tins over and tapped them - the crayons fell right out! Here's what they all looked like:
This one was Miss B's favorite because it had part of an old glitter crayon in it:
All in all, a cute activity - let me know if you try it and like it!
