8/7/15: The Crayola Experience in Easton PA

We recently took a whirlwind trip to Pennsylvania.  The first location we visited was The Crayola Experience in Easton, PA.  It offers four floors of some unique colorful fun for kids.

The front of the building is really cool with large markers and crayons.

There are larger than life crayons.

Where else can you see the World's Largest Crayon?  This crayon which was created in 2003 weighs 1,500 pounds and is 15 feet long.  123,000 blue crayons were collected from around the country to make this crayon.  This in on the first floor in addition to a Cafe, Gift Shop, and the entrance.

We started out on the 2nd floor in the Wrap It Up! area which allows kids to pick a color of crayon and select an image and name to print on their crayon label.  You put a token in the machine of your desired color crayon and the digital display steps you through picking the image and name you would like on your label.  The machine then dispenses the label and crayon and you roll the label on to the crayon.

Here are the kids with their creations.

Here you can see a close up view of the crayons.

Right next to that area is the Modeling Madness area.  There are vending machines with Crayola Model Magic and kids can use the model magic along with tools to make designs and molds.

Lauren showing me her creations.

We then headed to the Crayola Factory theater to learn more about Crayola crayons and how they are made.  There is a little demonstrations and animated crayons talk about what happens.  Did you know that since 1903 Crayola has made more than 600 colors?

The 2nd Floor also has some digital interactive exhibits.  Here you can see Evan making a shark.

Once you make your creation you can release it in to the digital wall display.  Here is Lauren with hers.  There are options to duplicate the image as you can see with hers.

We then headed up the 3rd floor and went to the Water Works area.  This area has little Crayola shaped boats that kids control going through a water table.

This area was well organized with a line to obtain boats.  Once kids received their boats they could start going down the one way waterway.

I loved that there were different ways to get the boats through the water.  Here you see a crank area with a hill.

There were also locks where you could lower or raise the boats to the right water level to keep moving along the waterway.

From there we headed to the play climbing area.

Kids could spend a long time in here playing and sliding down the slide.  We had to finally call our kids so we could move on.

There is also a Toddler play area for little kids.

The 4th Floor had more places to create.  When you walk up there is an area where you can make a molded crayon by picking a color and picking a mold of either a dinosaur, ring, or crayon looking character.  Lauren chose a ring.

There is also a drip art and meltdown activity here where it makes a splattered design of crayons.  There are also many areas where you can color an image and then have it transferred to a shirt or canvas.

Here you can see the Gift Shop.

 This is the other side of the building.  So super cute.

I would highly suggest visiting.  They have other locations in Minneapolis, MN and Orlando, FL.  It is a great value for several hours of fun.  Regular admission for Adults and Children is $18.99 however if you buy tickets online it is only $16.99.

Find them online:  http://www.crayolaexperience.com/easton

Twitter: @VisitCrayola

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/crayolaexperience

Crayola crayons, they work on brains not batteries!  Get creative!

Disclosure:  I was provided with a family four pack of tickets in exchange for promotion.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

11/11/13: Crayola Melt 'N Mold Factory and Create2Destroy

Crayola has some super cool products.  Not only can you draw with their crayons but you can make crayons.  We got to try out the Melt 'N Mold Factory and the Create2Destroy - Dino Destruction - Metropolitan Mayhem.  Here is some more information about both of them plus an Instagram contest that Crayola is running for their Create2Destroy line.  I am going to start with the Melt 'n Mold Factory.

 The machine provides 24 crayons that you can use to create with.  You take the crayons and break them each in to 3-4 pieces.

 Put the broken pieces of crayons in to the silver melting tray.

  Close the cover and turn the factory on with the small yellow swtich.  Then turn the knob on the side.  The machine is very safe as the plastic cover stays on while it is heated up.  It unlocks when it has cooled enough to open it.

 This set comes with both a mold for crayons and for rings.

 Now you can see the crayons melted.

 Once the yellow dial is turned to the area that shows you to pour the melted crayons you turn the smaller knob which lifts the melting tray and pours the melted crayons in to the molds.  I did find that after one cycle when it said to pour the melted crayons ours were not fully melted so I had to run the cycle again.

 As far as cleanup it was not too bad to clean.  The melting try and the plastic mold are the two things to be cleaned.  I poured really hot water on to the melting tray and the crayon was easy to clean off.  Same with the molds which were even easier to clean.  Here is Lauren showing me the finished product.  

Here is some video of the Melt 'n Mold Factory in action.

We also got two of the extra add on packs that makes twisted crayons and spinners.  These came with additional colors of crayons so we decided to use those for the rings.

Here are some of the neon colors we used.

 We created rings with these.

 Aren't they pretty?

It does take quite a while to make the crayons.  In our case it took about 25 minutes.  Kids attention spans are not that long and mine needed something else to entertain them while they were waiting so we decided to also break out the Create2Destroy Dino Destruction - Metropolitan Mayhem.

My son loves dinosaurs.  This set includes Destructodon, his dino pal Wreckzilla, 2 volcano catapults, Morphix™ construction compound and a bunch of molds set the scene on the playmat.

The kids got right to creating.  The Morphix has a grainy sandy feel to it that the kids didn't seem to mind.  Evan did have a hard time getting the Morphix out of the molds.  

Lauren being silly with one of the Dinos.  They do suggest that you use the Morphix on the playmat they provide.  We also have a plastic clear tablecloth on this table so I wasn't worried.

He enjoyed having the dino chomp on some of the Morphix.

Plus right now Crayola is having a Create 2 Destroy contest. To enter the contest, create a :15 Instagram video of their child(ren) getting carried away with Crayola’s Create 2 Destroy product, and post it on Instagram with a caption that includes a creative storyline and #create2destroy. Make sure the “Photos Are Private” option in your Instagram account settings is set to “OFF”.  The winning entry will have that child’s story featured on the 2014 product box and will win a $1,000 gift card.  For more information check out the Crayola Facebook page here.
Here it is as packaged.

I highly recommend these cool Crayola products to let you kids create and have hours of fun.

Find Crayola on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Crayola

You can also follow them on Twitter:  @Crayola

Disclosure:  These Crayola products were provided for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

11/1/12: Crayola Digital Light Designer Innovative Toy

When I was at Toy Fair I was introduced to the new Crayola Digital Light Designer.  Since I saw the demo of how it worked I was extremely excited to be able to try it out and include it in my Holiday Gift Guide.  You get to create with colored LEDs!  Crayola has really impressed me lately with all their innovative toys.  

 What we learned is that it came in extremely handy during our recent power outage during Hurricane Sandy.  The kids had a great time drawing on it and animating their designs.  I even had some fun playing with it.

 Evan trying it out.  The kids also learned that you can save your designs.  You can save up to 50 designs!  They loved this.

 There are games too.

 Here is a demo of it from Toy Fair to show what it is capable of.

It truly is an amazing toy and best shown through video.  This picture shows what the display looks like.

Lauren was really enjoying drawing on it.

I love her looks of surprise when it animates and when the games appear.  She got a hang of it pretty quickly and understood how it worked.

She is having a blast.

Here is Lauren showing me how it erases:

Now she is showing her friend how it works.

Here is more about it:

Using the digital light stylus, kids can select colors and line width to begin free-drawing anywhere on the domed surface. They can easily switch between 8 different colors, or erase and start over. Kids can then activate their creations with amazing special effects; making them spin, change colors, melt or even mix up the drawings.  Kids can even put their ideas into motion with two different animation modes; one for simple creations and another for more advanced animated features.  Up to 50 original masterpieces can be stored in the gallery so kids can create, change and replay their creations.

Extending the fun even more, the Digital Light Designer also comes with 8 different interactive games and activity apps.  Kids can spend hours creating or just doodling with Rainbow Draw, magically duplicate their creations with Mirror Draw, create funny animated faces, play interactive mazes and so much more!  There’s even amazing drawings included, so kids can experience jaw-dropping effects right out of the box.  There so many ways for kids to discover the fun of creativity with the Crayola Digital Light Designer. 

I highly recommend this toy for hours of fun.

Find Crayola on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Crayola

You can also follow them on Twitter:  @Crayola

Disclosure:  The Digital Light Designer was provided for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.