Do you have some old or small crayons that you don’t want to throw out but don’t know what else to do with? You can recycle them by making a beautiful crayon sun catcher with your residents. This activity requires a clothing iron and ironing board, so keep this in mind when you’re reaching out to invite residents to attend.

For this activity, you’ll need a template for your suncatcher design. Print some out online or ask your residents to design their own. Trace the templates onto black construction paper and cut them out. 

Grate the crayons one colour at a time and store the shavings in small containers. If the pieces of crayon are too small to grate, place them in a microwave-safe cup and melt them in a microwave. Pour the melted crayons into a mold, allow to cool, and then you’ll be able to grate them.

Set down a sheet of newspaper and place a sheet of wax paper on top. Scatter different colours of crayon shavings on the wax paper. Put another sheet of wax paper on top, and another sheet of newspaper on top of that. Iron the wax paper and crayon between the two sheets of newspaper. The iron should be on a low heat setting, NOT HOT. Put aside to cool.

Once the wax paper is fully cooled down, glue your suncatcher template on top and cut around the excess. Make a hole at the top of the suncatcher and insert a string so you can hang it up in front of a window!