Recycled Crayons
Word of the Week
Crayon (cray-on): I think you know what this word means. It's one of the most celebrated and used art supplies, and it's made of wax. The word comes from the French word, crayon, meaning “chalk pencil.”
Bonjour!
“We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box.” The American author, Robert Fulghum, certainly said it best! Thursday, March 31st is National Crayon Day! That sounds like something that is definitely worth celebrating! Here are some fun crayon facts:
Over 12 million crayons are made daily!
The modern-day crayon was first introduced in 1903 by Crayola. They originally came in a box of eight: black, brown, orange, violet, blue, green, red, and yellow. This combination of colors remained the norm for 45 years!
For its 100th anniversary, Crayola created the world’s largest crayon in 2003. . .a blue crayon weighing 1,300 pounds and measuring 15 feet long! It was made from over 123,000 leftover crayons.
The smell of crayons is the 18th most recognizable smell for adults.
For the first 40 years, Crayola employees had to roll the paper on by hand.
Crayola currently has 120 colors available, but over 400 shades have been created over the years.
When a Crayola shade is retired, this usually happens on March 31st.
Crayon stubs are formally called leftolas.
In my book, Mary and Mike help clean up their neighborhood and recycle. It’s always important to give back to the environment and community. I have a sneaky suspicion that each and every one of us has some leftolas lying around the house. I have found the perfect solution for them- and it involves recycling! The Crayon Initiative helps give free crayons to hospitalized children. So far, it’s also helped keep over 48 million crayons from going to the landfills. This could be a wonderful school fundraiser! Learn more here: https://thecrayoninitiative.org/give-crayons/
Now, you didn’t think I’d get through this entire blog post without sharing an activity, did you? I have another idea to recycle your leftolas on a smaller level. Melt them down to create new, beautiful tie dyed crayons to color with or gift. It’s simpler than you think. . .
Purchase an oven safe silicone tray with the molds of your choice.
Fill them with bits of crayons as full as you can without making them overflow.
Place the prepared mold on a cookie sheet and bake at your lowest oven setting for 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of your shape/letter!
Once everything looks good and melted, remove the tray and let them completely cool.
Pop them out, and as the French say, VOILA!
Wasn't that fun? Get creative, and have some fun making something old, something new again!
Until next time. . .
Gram