I’m a homeschooling mom of two children and have grown to love it! But things weren’t always that way….science fair projects? Annoying. Art with kids? Messy. Teaching grammar? Who remembers all the rules? But ten years into it, I’m well over the hump. Persistence, patience and crafting your family’s unique adventure is what it is all about. Read more about our homeschooling adventures here.
What started out as an innocent science fair project turned into a crayon blob nightmare (full story and our science fair poster). What could go wrong melting down some kid friendly crayons and remolding them to simulate sedimentary rocks? I’m glad you asked because as it turns out, quite a lot can go wrong. One Calphalon skillet in the waste basket and a burned up food processor later, I’ve learned some things my fellow homeschooling friends. BUT, having complaints voiced above, I look back on this project years later with such fun & fond memories, so have at it if you wish-just be smarter than I was with the techniques used to accomplish the end goals! Here’s a link to one option for the crayon rock science project: Crayon rock cycle project .
Here are some tips to share on this if you’re tempted to do it.
- Soak crayons in water and the paper will come off easily. I had old crayons and the paper was fused into them, so taking off the wrappers was a serious lesson in tedious tasks I’d rather have avoided.
- Instead of using a skillet to melt the crayons, melt them in muffin tins, lined with parchment muffin liners, bake at 275 for about 7 or 8 minutes. WAY less mess and way less clean up involved! I wish I would have watched this video before I tried my technique…..but then again, we were back in the dinosaur ages with unreliable internet when I did this project, so you tubing was an option.
- Grating the crayons took an enormous amount of time with a standard cheese grater, thus I tried the food processor. Maybe this works for some folks, but it did a number on my already old and tired out unit, and afterwards it was never quite the same and was fully retired from service-post crayon trauma. This video is pretty funny, and about 5 minutes into it, you can see that this guy too- spent what he says is about “2,000 years” to grate his crayons for his super neat resin crayon table project.
Save time with exhausting clean up with the options above. Have fun. Take photos. Build memories. Your kids will love it.
Alaska Wilderness Mom 