We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.
10 Fun Facts About Crayons to Delight Your Kids With
The nation's most nostalgic coloring tool is cooler than you think.
Who didn't love sitting down with a box of crayons and going to town on a coloring book or some loose leaf? Maybe you still do it now, with your kids or on your own (no judgement!). We're just here to give you a a little more to think about the next time you pin that Crayola masterpiece to the fridge.
The first Crayola crayon box sold for a nickel.
Crayon manufacturers, Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith, sold the first eight packs of Crayola crayons for five pretty pennies. It included the same colors available in the eight-count box today: red, blue, yellow, green, violet, orange, black and brown.
Crayon labels were once hand applied.
These days, industrial machines are doing the job, but before such technology existed each label was hand-rolled onto a crayon by an employee. Wow, talk about a tedious job!
There are more than 100 Crayola crayon colors.
There are 120 shades available now, to be exact. Officially, there are about a dozen more, but they are impossible to get your hands on because they're retired or special edition (like Oprah's crayon color "The Color Purple").
Crayons have one of the most recognized scents in the nation.
A Yale University study found that it ranked 18 among 80 recognizable scents to American adults. Wonder what you're smelling? The odor is a result of stearic acid — a derivative of beef fat — added to the batch to give the coloring tool it's waxy consistency. Gross!
America's favorite crayon color is blue.
A 2001 poll of 25,000 consumers revealed that Americans are in love with the color blue. They like it so much that the top ten favorites included these six other shades of blue: cerulean, midnight blue, aquamarine, periwinkle, denim and blizzard blue.
Crayon stubs are informally known as "leftolas."
That's right, those little stubby crayons too tiny to hold or too flat to draw with actually have a name.
Big Blue is the world's largest crayon.
The giant was made from 123,000 leftover blue crayons collected from kids around the nation. It weighs a whopping 1,500 pounds and is almost 16 feet long!
The average child will go through hundreds of crayons in a decade.
Fortunately for business, Crayola claims that the average child wears down 720 crayons by their 10th birthday.
The 64 pack of Crayola crayons is famous.
National Toy Hall of Fame famous that is. The large box of colors was inducted in 1998.
Crayons can teach you scientific elements.
If for some reason your children aren't satisfied with just coloring, you can print out these labels and teach them some chemistry. Each label indicates the chemical which produces each color.
Watch Next
Yellowstone's Luke Grimes on Kevin Costner
Wayfair Just Announced Its Way Day Sale 2024
Mark Consuelos Reveals Why He Really Joined 'Live'
'9-1-1' Fans Better Brace for This Episode News
