I’m partnering with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals today for this fun DIY you can make for a child this holiday. CMNH raises funds and awareness for 170 children’s hospitals in the country (including one over in Oakland!). The hospitals give $3.4 billion in charitable care every year for these miracle children. In honor of this season for giving, you can donate here to help one of the millions of children who will have to spend the holidays in a hospital this year. I’m always looking for ways to teach Henry about giving this time of year and this cause couldn’t be more dear to me. We’re feeling so blessed with the healthy birth of our daughter last month and I know for every healthy child born there is another born with special needs and medical problems that isn’t able to be home with their families this holiday season.

But what kind of gift can you give a child spending the holidays at a hospital?  There are lots of restrictions for gifts (like no stuffed animals, latex balloons, candy, used toys, etc) so I created this DIY with those miracle children of CMNH in mind. Drawing is an activity all children love and encourages creativity even within hospital walls. I used to hear all the time in Henry’s preschool that the best writing utensils for young kids are small pieces of things like broken crayons or rocks so they can learn to hold a writing utensil correctly and work on fine motor control. Crayon rocks have become a popular product, but expensive. I thought making our own would be a fun project to do with kids  and a great holiday gift for young children as well.

Keep reading to see how to make a some yourself…

This post is brought to you by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Donate $5 and give a miracle to a child in the hospital this Christmas.

Supplies:
Rock mold (I found mine at my local craft/art store)
Broken crayons
Knife and cutting board
Lighter (if necessary)

Step 1: Collect broken crayons

Step 2: Remove paper (easiest way is to run a small pairing knife down the long edge of it first)

Step 3: Cut into pieces

Step 4: Place into rock mold in groups of colors of your choosing and let melt in the oven at 250 degrees for about 10 minutes

Step 5: Pop out and repeat. Then place top rocks on top of bottom when they’re hot out of the oven to secure the top and bottom together (may also use a lighter or candle to fix edges, see below). This part of attaching the top and bottom can be tricky, if you’re doing this project with kids just have them make the one side of the rock.

Photography and styling by Liz Stanley. Assisted by Isabelle Ambler