Crayola Craftiness

By FPL_Suzanne

Did you know that Crayola Crayons have been around since 1903? These first-ever kids’ crayons were invented by Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith, who were also cousins. They formed a company called Binney & Smith which made products that had color in them – shoe polish and printing ink. They also produced a wax crayon that was used to write on crates and barrels. These crayons were not safe for kids to use, so they came up with a new mixture made of paraffin wax and non-toxic pigments (colors). There were only eight colors in this first set – red, orange, yellow, green, violet, brown, black. Throughout the years this box of eight grew into boxes with 16, 24, 64, and the largest with 120 crayons!

Another interesting fact about Crayola Crayons is how the company got its name. Edwin Binney’s wife, Alice, took the French word for chalk (“craie”) and the French word for oily (“oleaginous”) put them together and came up with “Crayola”!

We all have broken crayons (Crayola brand or not) around the house that we need to do something with. Instead of throwing them away, upcycle those crayon pieces doing these family friendly crafts together:

New Crayons from Old, opens a new window

Custom-Color Playdough, opens a new window

Melted Crayon Art, opens a new window