Looking for a fun alternative to candy to contribute to your child’s classroom Valentine’s Day celebration? Melted crayon hearts are a simple way to create a personalized message of affection and friendship. They’re beautiful, fun to color with — and they use up all the broken crayons lying around the house!
MATERIALS
- Silicone Baking Molds in Heart Shapes: Available at Michaels or on Amazon
- Crayons: I have a huge bucket of crayons collected over the course of three children. Any wax crayon will do. (Some of my crayons had glitter in them, which added a nice effect.)
- Baking Sheet
- Two Large Bowls, Buckets or Bins
STEPS
- Start peeling! I find this process rather therapeutic and don’t mind sitting in front of the TV, mindlessly peeling crayon labels. Or you can soak the crayons in warm water to soften the labels. Once you have the label off, break the crayon into three or four pieces.
- When you have a good number of crayons, transfer them to the silicone baking molds. You can make multicolored hearts or keep them all in a single color family.
- Place your filled heart molds on a baking sheet and put the sheet in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. Check them before you pull them out to ensure all the crayon pieces are melted.
- Let cool. The crayons should cool for at least an hour to allow the wax to set. (Speed up the cooling by putting the molds in the freezer.)
- Once the hearts are cool to the touch, pop them out of the silicone mold.
- Your valentines are ready! You can either put them in a valentines-themed gift bag or attach them to a note printed on card stock.
How to Get the Kids Involved
Melted crayon hearts are a great Valentine’s Day craft for kids because they’re colorful, creative, and flexible enough to work for a wide range of ages. With a little planning (and a few safety reminders), this is a project where kids can truly take the lead.
Let kids help with the prep.
Before any heat is involved, invite kids to peel the crayons, sort them by color (if desired), and break them into smaller pieces. This part of the process is perfect for little hands and helps build excitement for the finished project.
Encourage creative choices.
Give kids the freedom to design their own hearts. They can choose color combinations, create patterns, or mix shades for a marbled effect. There’s no “right” way to do it—half the fun is seeing how different each heart turns out.
Make it a supervised teamwork moment.
The melting step should always be handled by an adult, but kids can still be involved by watching, predicting how the colors will blend, and cheering on the transformation. Talking through what’s happening keeps them engaged while maintaining safety.
Turn the finished hearts into gifts.
Once cooled, let kids decide who their crayon hearts are for—teachers, grandparents, friends, or neighbors. Adding a handwritten note or taping the heart to a card helps reinforce that Valentine’s Day is about giving and thoughtfulness.
Celebrate the process, not the mess.
This is one of those crafts where a little mess is part of the magic. Put down parchment paper, lean into the imperfections, and enjoy the time spent creating together. Often, the memory of making something side by side is just as meaningful as the finished craft.
