How to Melt Crayons + DIY Melted Crayon Shapes

Homemade crayon shapes are fun for kids to make and color with afterwards. Making chunky crayon shapes are easier for kids to grasp with their little hands and they won’t break as easily as regular crayons. We made a variety of crayon shapes using melted crayons and small cookie cutters. We even experimented with making layered colored crayon shapes! DIY melted crayon shapes is a fun afternoon creative project to do with kids. It’s easy to learn how to melt crayons!

To make DIY melted crayon shapes, you need a quantity of crayons in relatively the same hue and a variety of cookie cutters. Strip each crayon of the paper label and organize the crayons in groups by color. I sliced each crayon lengthwise and allowed my preschooler to peel off the paper, a good activity to practice her motor skills too!

Slice along each crayon with a knife and peel off the paper label to make your own crayon shapes for this creative melted crayon activity.

Arrange each crayon by color. Different crayon hues of red, yellow, and blue can be used to make DIY melted crayon shapes.

My 4-year-old enjoyed peeling off the paper labels from the crayons and helping to group each crayon by color. If you have limited colors, blues and purples are good to group together to create periwinkle crayon shapes, and yellow and orange can be combined to make sunny yellow melted crayon shapes.

How to Melt Crayons

Melt your crayons in a sauce pan over low heat, wiping the pan out with a paper towel in between each batch. Crayons melt quickly so keep an eye on your melting crayons and don’t allow the pan to get too hot. Once the crayons become liquid, pour the melted crayons into each cookie cutter shape and allow them to set. I placed the cookie cutters on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and placed it in the freezer to speed the drying process. To make layered DIY melted crayon shapes, let each color fully dry before adding a new melted crayon color layer.

Make Your Own Layered Color DIY Melted Crayon Shapes

1. Gather a quantity of crayons by color and remove their paper labels.

2. Arrange cookie cutters on cookie sheet or plate that is lined with parchment paper.

3. Melt each crayon color in a sauce pan. Wipe out the melted crayon with a paper tower to remove any remaining wax from the sauce pan.

4. Pour the melted crayon into each cookie cutter shape and allow it to fully dry.

5. If making layered crayons, allow each color to fully set before adding the next color. Placing the crayons in the freezer will speed drying time.

6. Once fully dried, gently press each melted crayon shape out of the cookie cutter and enjoy! Once you know how to melt crayons, it’s easy to make your own DIY melted crayon shapes.

DIY melted crayon shapes are super fun to make and even more fun to use! We have a container full of broken crayons, so this creative crayon activity was a fun way to use some of those broken crayons and recycle these classic school supplies into fun shapes that my kids will actually use to color with! Preschoolers love coloring and doing creative projects. As a mom, I enjoy finding ways to encourage my preschool daughter’s creativity with projects that she can easily do herself and enjoy long into the future, like these homemade melted crayon shapes!