BJU Press Blog

Christmas ornaments

Repurposing Leftovers: Crayons and Chocolate

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repurposing leftovers crayons and chocolate
If you decide to do the changing states of matter activity with your children, you may find yourself with leftover bits of crayon and chocolate. You could throw it all away and move on, but some of us have the old adage “waste not, want not” echoing in our heads. Here are some great ideas for repurposing leftovers with chocolate chips and crayon pieces.

repurposing leftovers materials

Make Chocolate Candies 

Materials

  • Silicone mold
  • Leftover chocolate chips
  • Microwave
  • Microwave-safe bowl
  • Refrigerator

We had a lot of fun melting our leftover chocolate chips and pouring them into a silicone mold to harden. Making chocolate candies is one of the easiest, and tastiest, kitchen activities that little ones can help with. Simply heat the chocolate in the microwave for about 1 minute, stir, then continue heating it for much shorter intervals (15–20 seconds), stirring frequently until it melts completely. Be careful not to burn it, or the chocolate will seize. Pour the melted chocolate into your mold, and then refrigerate it for 20 minutes or until chocolate no longer looks glossy.

If you want to make candies, you can also explore a fascinating area of food science called tempering chocolate with older children. As you probably know, tempered chocolate has a glossy look. It also has a crisp snap when it breaks and a higher melting temperature. The science behind tempered chocolate may seem complicated, but it all boils down to getting all the fats to bind together in the same way by using both heat and motion. When it cools, the structure of the fats will be stronger and more like a coiled rope than a jumbled mess. You can temper chocolate in a microwave, but it’s best done using a double boiler.

repurposing leftovers chocolate

Make Your Own Recycled Crayons

Materials

  • Silicone mold
  • Baking sheet
  • Small crayon pieces
  • Oven or toaster oven

Once we finished the chocolates, we were able to clean out our mold to make recycled rainbow crayons. This process is even easier than making chocolate candies. Set your mold on a baking sheet, fill it with your crayon bits—making sure they aren’t too big—and bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 230°, or until the crayons are fully melted. We also found that you can use a toaster oven. [Note: Please refer to the guidelines from Crayola™ (or other manufacturer) for Craft Safety before melting crayons.]

repurposing leftovers crayons
repurposing leftovers crayons melted

Make Christmas Ornaments

Materials

  • Crayon pieces
  • Clear glass Christmas ornaments
  • Hair dryer

Who says you can make Christmas ornaments only during the Christmas season? For this project, take a clear glass Christmas ornament and drop several crayon pieces inside. Heat the crayons through the glass with a blow dryer while turning the ornament to spread the colors. You may want to hold the ornament with an oven mitt since you may have to keep the blow dryer on high heat to get the crayons to melt. Mixing colors can turn a simple clear globe into a planet. Ours turned out looking something like Mars, Neptune, and Earth without water. You could even add glitter and make it look like a galaxy. With resourcefulness and creativity, the possibilities are endless!

How did you use your leftover bits? Share with us on our Facebook or Instagram page (tag @bjupresshomeschool) with the hashtag #RepurposingCrafts. We’d love to see your ideas!

repurposing leftovers crayon ornaments
repurposing leftovers crayon melting ornament
repurposing leftovers finished ornaments

10 Ways to Make Christmas Memories

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One of my earliest Christmas memories is of sitting with my family as we read aloud The Story of Christmas, a children’s book full of captivating illustrations depicting Christ’s birth with text from Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2.

Why is this memory so vivid to me? Probably because my family repeats this scene every year. No matter who is with us or how old we all become, it’s a wonderful way to focus our attention on the true meaning of Christmas. And we always do it before any of the presents are opened.

Whether your family is just starting to create some simple Christmas traditions on your own or you’ve developed quite a few over the years, here are a few ideas of ways to celebrate this season.

Christmas Crafts

Tell the Story of Christmas

  • “My Gifts”—A beautiful poem depicting the Christmas story through the eyes of Mary, Zacharias, and the shepherds.
  • The Story Behind Benjamin’s Sling—About a beloved JourneyForth picture book, this post offers insight into why the author chose to write a story about a poor shepherd boy.
  • Learning About the Big Story in Reading—Our Reading 2 and Reading 3 textbooks provide your children the opportunity to retell key events of the gospel narrative through what they learn. A homeschool mom tells how this activity was a blessing.
  • A Tale of Three Trees—Decorate your Christmas table around the theme of this traditional folktale.

Give Gifts with Homemade Crafts (and Printables!)

Make Family Memories

My wish is that these activities provide you with an opportunity to remind your children why Christ chose to humble Himself and be born as a man (Philippians 2:5–11).

Crafting the Names of Christ

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A couple of years ago, my family got involved in a weekly children’s Bible club. We started helping because we wanted an opportunity to serve together as a family and to teach our children how to minister to other people. Since then, Bible club has become much more than a Saturday morning ministry opportunity. We have come to love the dozen or so children that hop on the bus to come every week. We bake them treats. We pray for them. We spend time trying to figure out how to teach them more effectively.

All of the children in our Bible club have been raised in poverty. Most of them don’t come from intact families. Few have ever attended a church service. Some of them come because they like seeing their friends. Others come because they sense the club leaders care for them. Some of them come because they like to play games and eat brownies. Whatever the reason, we’re glad whenever they show up.

Shortly after we started this ministry, we noticed that some of the girls who came rarely wanted to participate in the organized game time.  In order to better connect with them, we started having a craft time. They love doing crafts, and we’ve found that it’s a great time to teach basic Bible truths and reinforce some of the things my husband is teaching in our Bible lesson time.

This Christmas season, we’re decorating small Christmas trees with a dozen ornaments centered around one theme—the names of Christ. It is our hope that this craft will not only help them understand who Jesus Christ is but that they’ll be able to use it to tell their families about Christ.

You can use this craft in your own ministry setting or even with your own children. Make one ornament every day or make several at once—the pacing is really up to you. But before you make each ornament, take the time to read the associated Scripture passage and talk about the significance of the title. The goal is not just to have pretty ornaments; the goal is to better understand our Savior.

 

  1. Jesus is the Word

    John 1: 1–3
    WP-word-ornament-12-2015

  2. Materials needed: foam craft sheets (black, white, and green), red ribbon, hole punch, scissors, tacky glue

  1. Jesus is the Light of the World

    John 8:12
    WP-light-ornament-12-2015Materials needed: foam craft sheets (black, yellow, orange, red, white), glitter glue, scissors, hole punch, ribbon, tacky glue

  1. Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah

    Revelation 5:5
    WP-lion-ornament-12-2015Materials needed: foam craft sheets (yellow, orange), googly eyes, scissors, tacky glue, hole punch, ribbon

  2. Jesus is the Way

    John 14:6
    WP-way-ornament-12-2015Materials needed: foam craft sheets (blue, green, brown), gold glitter glue, cotton balls, scissors, tacky glue

  1. Jesus is the Good Shepherd

    John 10:11
    WP-shepherd-ornament-12-2015Materials needed: pipe cleaners, beads, ribbon

  2. Jesus is the Lamb of God

    John 1:29
    WP-lamb-ornament-12-2015Materials needed: assortment of white and black buttons, white card stock or craft foam, scissors, string or ribbon, tacky glue

  3. Jesus is the Vine

    John 15:1
    WP-vine-ornament-12-2015Materials needed: purple paper, green pipe cleaners, pencil (to curl paper around), scissors, hot glue gun, ribbon, tacky glue

  4. Jesus is the Bread of Life

    John 6:35
    WP-bread-ornament-12-2015
    Materials needed: salt, flour, lukewarm water, wax paper, plastic straw, knife, ribbon
    Directions:
    (1) In a medium bowl, mix ½ cup salt, 1 cup flour, and ½ lukewarm water.
    (2) Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3–5 minutes.
    (3) Form “French bread” shapes, using a knife to add detail.
    (4) Poke a hole in the top using a plastic straw.
    (5) Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper (or parchment paper).
    (6) Bake at 200 degrees for 2–5 hours, depending on thickness (or you can let them air dry for several days).

  5. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life

    John 11:25
    WP-life-ornament-12-2015Materials needed: salt, flour, lukewarm water, wax paper, plastic straw, ribbon
    Directions:
    (1) Make salt dough (see steps 1 and 2 under for ornament #8).
    (2) Shape dough into one large ball and another smaller one.
    (3) Place large ball on cookie sheet covered with wax paper, and use thumb to make a “cave” indent.
    (4) Place smaller ball off to the side of the “cave.”
    (5) Poke a hole in the top using a plastic straw.
    (6) Bake at 200 degrees for 2–5 hours, depending on thickness (or you can let them air dry for several days).

  6. Jesus is the King of Kings

    Revelation 19:16
    WP-crown-ornament-12-2015Materials needed: empty toilet paper or paper towel tube, scissors, sequins or jewels, tacky glue, ribbon

  7. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega

    Revelation 22:13
    WP-alpha-ornament-12-2015Materials needed: craft popsicle sticks, paint, paintbrushes, foam craft sheets (any color ), sticker letters, hot glue gun, ribbon

  8. Jesus is the Savior

    1 John 4:14; Matthew 1:21; Luke 2:11
    WP-savior-ornament-12-2015Materials needed: applesauce, cinnamon (4 oz. container), plastic wrap, rolling pin, cross-shaped cookie cutter, wax paper, plastic straw,  ribbon
    Directions:
    (1) Mix 1/3 cup applesauce with container of cinnamon.
    (2) Roll out dough between 2 sheets of  plastic wrap until ¼ inch thick.
    (3) Remove top sheet of plastic wrap.
    (4) Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
    (5) Peel shapes away from bottom layer of plastic wrap and place them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
    (6) Poke a hole in the top using a plastic straw.
    (7) Bake at 250 degrees for 1–3 hours, depending on thickness.

May you find comfort in all that Jesus is this Christmas!

Find other Christmas activities on the BJU Press blog.