Crayon Explosion Lantern

While you're making your cool crayon crafts, you can talk about these fun facts for kids! The colors in the first box of Crayola crayons that was released in 1903 were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black. It's hard to believe but the first box sold for only a nickel. Wax crayons have come a long way from that little box of eight colors to having dozens of crayons in the boxes with sharpeners on the back and erasable twisting crayons. The creators definitely never thought that one day kids would be making melted crayons art in the 21st Century. Crayola Crazy!

The word "crayon" was not invented by Crayola. The word dates back to the 1600s, coming from "chalk" and the Latin word for earth, "creta." Contemporary crayons appear to have orginiated in Europe where they were made with charcoal and oil.

Some of the most famous colors were actually named by children! Macaroni and Cheese was named by a six year old who loved pasta. A twelve year old named Tickle Me Pink because he'd blush when someone tickled him as a child. However, coloring knows no age boundaries because Purple Mountain's Majesty was named by an 89-year-old woman.