Are you looking for a family-friendly craft idea? These melted crayon art projects are so fun to complete on a large or a small scale. Children love using a blow dryer to melt the crayons on canvas.

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What canvas should you use?
You can do these on a smaller scale (like on canvas boards) or create large canvas art on 3’ x 4’ gallery-wrapped canvas. Gallery-wrapped canvases are great because you can paint the edges. There is no need to frame and they are ready to put on display.
You could buy smaller canvases if you don’t want to do this as a large project. Buying a pack of canvases is cheaper and you will have them left over for other easy canvas ideas.
These smaller canvases are the same brand that we used in our large collaborative art projects.

Recommended Supplies
- Canvases or canvas panels
- Old crayons with the wrappers peeled off
- Elmer’s Glue-All
- Acrylic paint in a variety of colors
How To Easily Peel Crayons
Soak the crayons in warm water first. The peels on most crayons will come off very easily after 10 minutes. This will save you a lot of time in the long run. You can also use your unwrapped crayons to make DIY letter crayons that make an awesome gift!

Can you leave the crayon wrappers on?
Yes, we have seen a variety of melted crayon canvases where they decide to keep the wrappers on. I would recommend making sure you glue where the seam of the crayon paper is. This will make sure the paper doesn’t just fall off.
What glue should you use?
It is important to use the right type of glue. Elmer’s Glue-All is a great option to use. Don’t be scared to use a liberal amount of glue on the crayons. You do have to be patient and keep the canvas flat.

Will washable glue work?
No, the crayons will fall off very easily if you use washable glue. Also, don’t try to use a glue stick. The heat of the blow dryer will melt the glue right off.
What about a hot glue gun?
Some people will say to use hot glue, but it can melt the crayons if too hot. It is possible that some low-temperature glue may work, but we have yet to be successful with that.
Other Ways To Melt Crayons
We think it easiest to use an old hair dryer as the heat source. However, you can also try a heat gun if you have one.
How To Make A Melted Crayon Art Project With Children
Step 1: Plan Out Your Design
- Together decide what images you want to use. Brainstorm your ideas and sketch them on to the canvas with a pencil.
- Come up with a collective color scheme. Since it was close to Valentine’s Day, we painted a simple heart and used a variety of red, pink, purple and blue crayons.
- Draw an image or images large, but still leave space for where the crayons will be glued.
- If you are doing a single, smaller canvas, this drawing technique may help you or your children plan out their first sketch on the canvas or canvas board.

Step 2: Paint Canvas Before Adding Crayons
This step is optional. You can still melt crayons on a canvas without painting the canvas. You do not need to paint if you want a white background and only want the crayons to make the design.

- Paint with neutral acrylic paint for the background or something that will contrast with the crayon colors you are choosing to melt. In this small example, we actually just left the small gallery-wrapped canvas white.
- Paint the image on the inside. Children can also use colored and black sharpies to make the painting appear neater.
- You can use gold and silver paint markers to add extra details and designs on top of dry paint. Paint markers help cover up mistakes and keep things looking neat. This is very important when doing group projects with several kids of all different abilities.
Step 3: Glue on the Crayons
After the painting is done, begin to glue crayons around the middle image. The canvas should be left flat when using glue.

Make sure that you are placing colors that will mix next to each other. If you want to use all the colors, put them in the order of the rainbow for a really fun effect.

Step 4: Let Dry
Find a flat drying space after you have glued the crayons onto your DIY art project.
Step 5: Melt Crayons With a Blow Dryer
Before beginning, set up a workstation. I suggest that you make sure to have a drop cloth or newspaper down because once the crayons start melting off the canvas it can get quite messy!
As you see in our picture while we were making our own melted crayon heart art, we just use an old piece of cardboard to protect our table.
Once the glue has dried, you get to start to have fun with the blow dryer.
Tilt the canvas to almost completely vertical and with the crayons you want to melt pointing down. Hold the edge of the canvas and slowly rotate it to melt new crayons. You want to hold the heat source pointed at the tips of the crayons.

Hold the blow dryer near the ends of the crayons and see the magic happen. You will need to rotate the canvas once the wax starts flowing from the crayons.
How to dry melted wax?
We rested our canvas on small plastic cups so that the wax wouldn’t stick. You can also place your artwork on a piece of wax paper while it is drying.
Extra Tips About Melting Crayons

- Make sure to hold blow dryers far enough away from the crayons and do not touch the melted wax.
- The melting point for individual colors, brands and sizes will all vary. The power and heat settings of the blow dryer will factor into this as well.
- Use old blow dryers.
- After the crayons melted, we did have to go and paint the heart all the way to the edge because some of the melted wax leaked on the white spaces. Adding a few extra painterly highlights and mixed colors gives this melted crayon art a little more of a Jim Dine feel!

I hope you enjoyed these projects, tips, and inspiration on this amazing melted crayon art project that all kids can do.
Looking for another melted crayon idea?

If you end up having extra small pieces of crayons after this project, consider melting new rainbow crayons in silicone molds. The tutorial linked will show you exactly how to do this fun idea!
What is your favorite art project to do with kids? Have you ever done a smaller crayon art yourself? Share your thoughts, ideas, and comments below. We would love to hear how your DIY art projects turned out!
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How To Melt Crayons On Canvas
Equipment
- Blow dryer
- Cardboard or drop cloth
Recommended Supplies
- Canvas or canvasboard
- Old crayons with the wrappers peeled off
- Elmer’s Glue-All
- Acrylic paint in a variety of colors
Instructions
- Plan out the design. Lightly sketch with a pencil.
- Peel crayons for best results.
- Paint canvas with a base color or image like our heart.
- Use Elmer's Glue-All or strong craft glue to glue crayons to the canvas.
- Let the glue fully dry.
- Hold blow dryer at least 3 inches away from the edge of the crayons on high heat.
- Hold canvas so that the crayons melt downwards.
- Keep rotating the canvas until you have melted all of your crayons.
- Touch up any areas with paint once the hot wax has melted.
Anh
Tuesday 19th of February 2019
These are so beautiful and creative. I must try this!
Erin
Wednesday 20th of February 2019
Hi Anh! Thanks for visiting our site and have fun being creative!
Bethany Rutledge
Tuesday 19th of February 2019
This looks so fun! Definitely saving this for when the boys are older. I'm not crafty at all so love stuff like this that makes it look possible.
Erin
Tuesday 19th of February 2019
Thanks for visiting my site. I am sure you would be able to pull it off! Enjoy being creative with your boys!
Sara
Tuesday 19th of February 2019
Wow this is an awesome take on they melted crayon craft. I love the collaborative piece
Erin
Tuesday 19th of February 2019
Hi Sara! Thank you for visiting our site and for the nice comment! Kids do really love working together.
Sonja - Too Much Character
Monday 18th of February 2019
Oh my goodness. As a former second grade teacher, I am certain that your students love coming to your class. What gorgeous projects you had them create!
Erin
Tuesday 19th of February 2019
Thank you! We do have fun and thank you for visiting my site.
Kat Depner
Monday 18th of February 2019
AH!!!!!!!! I adore, adore, adore these ideas. I'm borrowing them for my own inner artist! Thank you for sharing!
Erin
Tuesday 19th of February 2019
Please do. I am glad we were able to inspire you. Thank you for visiting The DIY Nuts site!