Crayon Valentine Hearts

Due to the recent snowstorms, my daughter’s preschool valentine party was canceled but I wanted to share the valentines we made (and will probably still distribute next week).  The idea came from Family Fun.

This is a great craft project because it is 1) easy, 2) recycles old crayon bits and other craft materials that you might otherwise throw away and 3) is a great opportunity to teach a small amount of science.

CRAYON VALENTINE HEARTS

Materials:

• silicon heart-shaped mold
• old crayons
• foam sheets (you could also use paper)
• paste or glue
• ribbon and needle or double-sided tape
• Sharpie permanent marker

Directions:

1. Clean our your crayon bucket and locate all the broken or dull crayons or the colors you just have too many of.  In our case, we seem to pick up a lot of crayons from restaurants where they hand them out with all the children’s menus.
2. Peel the paper wrappers off the crayons and break them into small pieces.
   
3. Put a variety of colors in each heart mold.
   
4. Put the crayon molds on a baking sheet and put in the oven at 250 degrees for about 10 minutes.  This is a great time to talk about the concept of “melting” with your child (which is actually harder to explain than you might think).  Peek in periodically to check on the progress.
5. When the crayons are completely liquid, take them out of the oven to cool.
   
6. Cut two sizes of squares out of the foam sheets.  Mine were about 2.5 inches for the inner smaller square and 4 inches for the outer larger square.  You can also use paper or other materials.  In our case, we had foam on hand to use up and the foam is more indestructible if your child (like mine) wants to give each valentine a thorough test drive before handing it out.
7. Have your child paste the smaller square on the larger square.  We have found that Yes! paste in a jar with a brush is easier for a preschooler to manage than squeeze bottles of glue or glue sticks.
   
8. When the crayons have fully cooled, unmold them.  The silicon trays make them easy to peel away.
9. Thread a large needle with ribbon and sew the hearts in place.  I experimented with a variety of stitching patterns but never came up with the “perfect” way to secure the hearts.  Alternatively, you could try attaching them with double-sided tape.  I knew tape was not going to stand up to the handling of my preschooler so that is why I sewed them in place.
10. Write a valentine message with a Sharpie permanent marker around the edge of the foam.