this is great idea, in theory but i really don't think i'm going to hang onto dried out markers long enough to do this. i can see it working quite well at a school though!

you said it jsev! more power to the person who thought of it if she enjoys this activity, but I have to draw the line somewhere in the balance of convenience vs. earth-friendliness and cost-savings, and for me this is past it I think.

If you can break into the marker, you pull out the foam insert and stick it in a bottle of elmer's glue. Tada, colored glue! Useful in a variety of destructive ways. Just ask my 6th grade teacher. ;)

You can also just dip the tips of the old markers in water and draw with them to produce a watercolor effect. You wouldn't have to hoard old markers to do this. You could do it with just one.

@confounded: you're brilliant!!

I used a lot of markers as a kid. =)

My kid had a little chemistry lab going, with beakers and test tubes and all. He would fill his test tubes with water, then dip in an old marker to color it. It was great!

camelaL.... that's a whole lot of polysyllabic words saying a whole lot of nothing.

Besides, whether one would actually soak these or not, the end result is that the casings *still* have to go somewhere. It's really not as green or eco-friendly as it's being made out to be, and as baumgak already pointed out; a bit of a step too far.

THis may not be that good of an idea for an individual but it is a great idea for a school that has lots of markers that the kids use.

I might do this. I keep everything anyway! :) I'm not a hoarder, but I can never silence that "you might be able to use it again" demon!

Is it some type of special fun that I'm just missing to trade rude barbs over the internet in a way that I doubt (hope) you wouldn't in person with strangers about asinine things?Does anyone care that much about the practicality of soaking old markers? It's just a cool fun little idea...skip it if you think it isn't cool, do it if you do, or like most of us, take a look, have a smile, and keep it moving.

This is a great idea! I teach at a nonprofit after school program and we are always looking for ways to repurpose things. And not just because it saves us money. Repurposing also teaches us all how to look at things in a different way. Using dried markers in itself may not save the world, but if we get into the practice of relooking at our stuff and how we can use every morsel and drop and/or how we can use it in an unintended way and therefore extend it purposeful life, then that may save the world. Also as the person stated that now what do we do with the plastic part of the marker, would you have contemplated that if you hadn't thought about how to re use the ink of the marker?
There is also the case that every time we reuse and repurpose things it means less new things that are bought and made.
Thank you Re-Nest for showing us so many ways to repurpose things. Whether is is an idea that we use or not, it stretches our mind and who knows where that will lead!

Kudos to Janie Lee for *not* falling into the trap of making this a "GREEN" headline grabber. Janie merely pointed out that it's a money-saver. Modestalmond's point is well taken, don't mistake this for an eco-friendly tip. If we are going to discuss such things, we can expect some controversey. And I do think it's fitting on a blog about children that we discuss their future. When they're old enough to understand, they won't be thanking us for giving them markers. Instead, they'll be asking, why didn't you do anything to protect our future? What we can do is demand maker-makers and other companies provide us with refillable plastic markers, or other ways to reduce waste. Write letters. Okay, now we can enjoy the chemistry experiment!

great idea !

Or, depending on the marker (the solvent type) and how easy it is to get the end off of it, just put a few drops of rubbing alcohol and you have a marker that is no longer dry and can be used normally.

"You have them. We all do." Evidently not.

There's an artist out there that makes incredible installations with junk. computer parts, electrical odds and ends, anything colorful and found. He incorporates plastic bottles filled with highlighter juice. If you soak a highlighter in water the water glows. It might have to be exposed to a black light.

Seriously, how much is a set of watercolors? Like a dollar?

I just did this with my 2.5 year old this weekend, and it worked great! We just grouped similar colors together and ended up with maybe 3-4 oz of watercolor each. It was great fun to do for her, and I even used it to do a color mixing lesson. Now we have watercolors to use for 3-4 painting sessions. Thanks for the idea! I don't know what all the fuss is about with this post.

Aha! This came originally from my blog, and I got the idea from this teacher: http://debiwest.blogspot.com/2011/05/apcomes-to-end.html

So yeah, when I said, "We all have them," I meant ART TEACHERS. WE all have dried out markers, and we have boatloads of them. Yes pan watercolors are inexpensive, but they are a major pain in the neck to use with a class of Kindergarteners. Liquid watercolors produce different results than pan watercolors, and I happen to like them better because I can separate the colors so the kids are less likely to mix them up and ruin the palettes.

This post has brought my blog a lot of traffic, and I'm pretty stoked about that. But I should let y'all know that the context is within an ART CLASSROOM, not necessarily your home. And no it isn't really green. It still bugs me to toss the plastic markers after the ink is gone, but it does create a nice watercolor at no extra cost.

Any idea what can be done with the marker casings in a classroom setting?