While it’s true that crayons are labeled as non-toxic, certain colors may contain up to 2-5 ppm of lead. That’s below the amount allowed in toys, but above the 0.1 ppm amount the FDA has set for candies likely to be ingested by small children. Obviously crayons are not candies, but some kids seem to think they are!
Now, as you may have noticed from these posts on completely edible finger paint, play dough, face paint and moon sand, I’m a big fan of making art/play supplies out of food grade ingredients. Though I did my best to keep my toddler from taste-testing our store-bought crayon stash, he did go through a period where he would try to sneak a few in.
That inspired me to try to come up with a food grade recipe, which flopped . FLOPPED . . . And flopped a few more times before it finally worked! The secret, as it turns out . Is a blend of beef tallow, fruit/veggie pigments and carnauba wax, which I learned about from Kresha at Nourishing Joy. It’s made from the leaves of a Brazilian palm tree, known as the “Tree of Life,” and it’s a food grade wax similar to beeswax.
The difference between the two is that it holds color a little better. Let me explain . Crayons made with beeswax take longer to cool than carnauba-based crayons, which causes the pigment tends to settle more on one side than the other. Also, after a few days beeswax crayons tend to form a white powdery layer on the outside.
If you rub them in the color returns, though, so if you want to use beeswax instead of carnauba it will totally work. Either way, these crayons are perfect for little hands that are still developing fine motor skills! The yellow, orange, light green and brown are as smooth as store-bought crayons, while the pink and dark green are less smooth, but still totally usable. What about a substitution for tallow, If you don’t have tallow, you can use cacao butter.
Not the stuff you find in the beauty section - only food grade, like this. It’s pricier than tallow, but will work in a pinch. Now, I want to be clear . That I supervise my little ones when they color, which is usually at the kitchen table while I am making lunch or dinner. Though the most popular crayon companies do sell crayons for toddlers (egg-shaped ones for children under two and sticks for children over two), they do so while recommending that parents keep an eye out for safety.
While researching materials to make crayons with, I came across a couple of alternatives to petroleum/paraffin wax-based crayons that I thought I would pass along. Crayon Rocks are made from soy wax and mineral pigments. I called the founder and asked if their soy is non-gmo, and learned that she’d been trying to source non-gmo soy for quite awhile with no success. Apparently there are only a few processors in the U.S.
Honey Sticks makes 100% beeswax crayons that are tinted with mineral pigments. Alrighty then, moving on! One quick note: With the exception of the carnauba wax I pretty much used ingredients I had around the house to create these recipes. I’m hoping you’ll have at least a few on hand because it would be pricey to purchase them all just for this project. However, I have included resources for where to find things in case that would be helpful. Each of these recipes makes 5 gingerbread boy crayons or 10 star shaped crayons. All measurements are by weight.
Gently melt carnauba and tallow in a double boiler. If you don’t have one (I don’t), place stainless steel bowl set inside a pot of boiling water. When both are completely melted, whisk in your pigment. Quickly pour the mixture into your crayon mold - allow to cool completely before removing.
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