National Crayon Day Activities for Children

National Crayon Day is March 31.  Of course, crayon activities are great for ANY day in early childhood.  Here are some crayon day activities to try out:

• Make fun Crayon Shapes using silicone ice cube trays as crayon molds.
  1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
  2. Peel the paper off the crayons and cut or break into tiny pieces.
  3. Fill each crayon mold with different colors – any combination of colors!
  4. Bake for 5-8 minutes or until crayons are completely melted. (Tip: place on a cookie sheet so the mold doesn’t bend.)
  5. Carefully remove the mold from the oven and let everything cool completely. (Tip: put them in the freezer for faster cooling.)
  6. Flip the mold over to remove the fresh crayons.

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• Make Crayon Play-Dough.  Ingredients include:
  1. 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
  2. 1 ½ cup flour
  3. ¾ cup salt
  4. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  5. 2 crayons, coarsely chopped – for each color you are making
  6. 1 cup water

Full directions are at How To Make Crayon Playdough (Source: Little Bins for Little Hands)

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• Create Crayon Resist Art.  You’ll need:
  1. White Paper
  2. White Crayons
  3. Watercolor Paints and Paintbrushes

Have children use white crayons to draw pictures or write letters on their white pieces of paper.  (Make sure they know to press firmly!)  Next, brush watercolor the drawing. The watercolor will stick the paper, but will “resist” the white crayon. This is when their designs will magically appear!

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• Crayon Patterns – Print out our Crayon Patterns Printable and provide an assortment of crayons. Let children finish the crayon patterns using real crayons.

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• Measure Items with Crayons.  Children find specific items in the room (ie. table top, a doll, a book, etc.- even have a friend measure themselves), and measure each item by lining up crayons next to the item. Have them count the crayons that it takes to measure each item.  Print out our Crayon Measuring Printable and have children count the crayons and write in the number.

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Amazon Picks and Resources:

 

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About National Crayon Day:

(Source: Holiday Insights)

National Crayon Day is a day to celebrate the creation of crayons and the joy of coloring.

The origin of crayons dates back to the17th century. In those days, the original crayons were not made of wax. The colors in those early days, were more limited, and not as long lasting or durable. Wax crayons arrived at the beginning of the 1900’s.

In 1902, the Crayola brand arrived on the scene and the world of crayons has never been the same since. Between 1902 and today, Crayola has come out with 120 colors. This day can be a little bittersweet, as Crayola has retired 50 colors, most often on this very day.

Crayon Trivia

• Crayola makes over 3 billion crayons a year. Other manufacturers combined are just a small fraction of total annual production.
• The world’s largest crayon was made by Crayola. It was 15’6″ and weighed 1,352 pounds.
• The smell of crayons is the most recognizable scent for adults.
• Over the years, Crayola has made over 237 billion crayons.

Do you know what to do to celebrate National Crayon Day? You guessed it. Get out the coloring book and crayons, and show off your artistic skills.