TIME.CO, Jakarta – Two students Madrasa Aliyah Sains Roudlotul Qur’an Lamongan, Arina Manasika and Nabila Avrin Virinda Navisa, produce child-safe crayons. Crayons made from these tubers are safe if children accidentally eat them.
The idea to create crayons came when Nabila, who is familiarly called Virin, observed her sister Diana often wanting to eat crayons. “Every time he draws, his crayons are swallowed. So, his parents are confused about how he can still draw, but his crayons are safe,” Virin said when he met Tempo at the Indonesian Innovation Festival Expo and Entrepreneurship at Smesco Building, Jakarta on Wednesday, September 27, 2023.
She shared this complaint with her friend Arina. From that story, the two had the idea of making crayons made from child-safe materials. They then researched what materials could be used to make the crayons. Arina, a farmer’s daughter, wondered if arrowroot tubers could be processed more creatively. Arina then asked her father to transform the tubers into something more innovative and it turned out that it was possible to do so.
Arina and Virin discussed again and united their thoughts. They finally decided to turn arrowroot tubers into safe crayons. The crayons are made in the school laboratory. The production process begins with the production of starch from the arrowroot tuber. “The starch in the Arrownut tuber works as a texturing agent and binds color,” Arina said.
They grate the arrowroot tubers, squeeze them and then let them rest until the starch and water separate. Subsequently the starch is dried in the sun until it forms flour. The flour is then colored using natural ingredients. They use dragon fruit skin to produce red, pandan leaves for green, dried banana leaves for black, and butterfly pea flowers for blue.
The coloring process is carried out by grinding the natural ingredients using a blender and filtering them. Then, roasted until crystals form. Finally, the crystals are ground again using a blender.
Next, they melt the beeswax or hive wax that is safe for consumption. Beeswax was chosen as a substitute for paraffin wax which is usually used in crayons. Beeswax contains esters and fatty acids that can bind and prevent the growth of microorganisms.
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They get their beeswax from local bee entrepreneurs. Melted beeswax is mixed with starch and shaped using a silicone mold. The final process is labeling with paper edible which has also been proven to be safe for consumption.
The crayons made by Arina and Virin have been used in numerous schools and are also tried by children under five years old. “We recommend evaluating this crayon for one year,” Virin said.
In one box, consisting of 10 crayons, you can work on it for two days. “In the future we will produce 150 crayons in a week,” Virin said.
In the future, the pair of Grade 12 students also plan to empower local communities. “We will empower fathers in the search for raw materials, women in the production department and youth organizations for the team marketing“, continued Virin.
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