National Crayon Day on March 31 sparks fond memories of childhood creations in full color as we celebrate one of America’s most beloved toys, the crayon! Crayons delight our senses not just with their brilliant colors but also with their distinct smell, the feel of them in our hands, and for some kids, the waxy taste. In India, at Kidsfreesouls Swagat, we have #EverydayCrayons – why just a Day?
Crayons have a colorful history. While hued wax molds have existed for centuries, the modern-day crayon got its start in the 1900s.
Crayola crayons were introduced in 1903 by Binney & Smith as a safer and cheaper alternative to the art utensils in use at that time. Binney & Smith premiered their famous eight-pack of crayons with the color line-up: Black, Brown, Orange, Violet, Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow. This color mix, along with their names, remained unchanged for 45 years.
Since then, many colors have been added, color names and packaging have changed, and color styles such as neon, metallics, and glitter have emerged. A few colors have even been retired from the color wheel, typically on March 31.
Crayola Crayons was one of the original inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame in November 1999. It is estimated the average American will have used 730 crayons by their 10th birthday. Even Mr. Fred Rogers has had his hand in the history of crayons by molding the official 100 billionth crayon in February 1996 at the Crayola plant in Easton.
Crayons not only add color to our lives, but they’ve also been held as an analogy for the colorfulness of the human race and our ability to live together in a diverse world. Robert Fulghum, the American author, once said, “We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box.”
Let the creative juices flow with Every Day Crayons use. Crayons bring out the crafty side in us so having a dedicated day to this artistic tool can get the creative juices flowing. Colors is for Everyone and have an amazing calming effect. The recent Pandemic has seen many flourishing Zoom classes online to soothe the mind with the expert teachers teaching lessons in Art.
For more on this News piece, go to our Sources at National Crayon Day and also click to National Day Calendar
