Crayola Experience - The "Factory Tour"

Lately, pretty much every factory tour we take is a presentation of some kind, with speaking, video, and possibly some demonstration. Sometimes it is in the same building in the factory, and maybe you even have some windows where you can look over the factory floor, but they aren't letting you on there.

That is fine. Concerns about product cleanliness - especially for foods - and concerns about safety may make it close to illegal to offer the other kind of tour, let alone concerns about proprietary processes.

It is nonetheless amazing how interesting, informative, and engaging these experiences can be.

http://www.crayolaexperience.com/easton/things-to-do/things-to-do-with-kids/crayon-factory.aspx

There was video, including two animated crayons, Scarlet and Turquoise. There was factory equipment, where we got to see the melted wax, and the machine that forms them into the crayon shape. It gave a really good idea of the end-to-end process, and the scale of it.

One of the interesting things to me was as they talked about the creation process, and she was looking for something that could be used cleanly. I had never realized how remarkable crayons were for that. It's not just paint that can make a mess, so do charcoals, and oil pastels, and I never do much drawing with my pen without getting some on me. And Crayola are the best; just try comparing them to other crayons.

The other very interesting thing for me was that for all of the different crayon colors they have, there are only about eight label colors. It's certainly more practical that way, but it's something that I had never thought of.

Crayola Experience - Going Digital

http://www.crayolaexperience.com/

Most of the activities I wrote about last week were fairly low-tech, but that was not everything there was to do.

In one area, you could bring sleeping crayons to life by moving for them - and dancing for them.

This can be pretty fun, especially if you are uninhibited, but it is hard to get a good picture while you are doing it, based on both the light and the restriction in you movement caused by holding the camera.

There was also something similar to electronic white boards, where you could doodle and watch it glow.

Maria decided to make a statement of loyalty to home. I just thought about the pets.

Art Alive! was one of the more interesting concepts.

On the wall is a scene, with some default objects, but some that were put there by visitors.

To put something into the scene,  you go to a drawing station and create your figure.

I colored this friendly crescent moon and added effects.

And then there he was, floating through the scene.

You can also disrupt the flow of melting colors. This one wasn't my favorite, as I thought the result was less aesthetically pleasing.

You can also take a green screen picture with a giant crayon, so have pictures on various backgrounds.

Comparatively, I enjoyed the other activities more, but it is interesting to find how - exploring one basic concept - there end up being so many different things you can do.

Crayola Experience - The Art

There is so much going on at the Crayola Experience that I was not sure how to break it down. It is overall a celebration of creativity, but sometimes you are not making, and sometimes what you are working with is digital. This post is focusing on the things you make that are not digital. When you pay your admission they give you a bag to hold all the little souvenirs (some of which will start flaking off wax later).

Most of this happens on the melting floor.

One thing you can do is use toothpicks to paint with melted wax. It can be difficult to get the results you want, but Meltdown is something to try.

It goes a little better with a machine, for Drip Art. Here you choose a crayon color and insert it. The crayon is melted and dripped onto a revolving paper plate, followed by another crayon of a different color. You can control the speed of the revolutions and adjust the height.

 The final melting attraction is Melt & Mold. Pick a crayon and a mold and get a keepsake.

I never questioned for one minute that I wanted this little guy. I think of him as a dinosaur, but I think he's supposed to be a dragon. I'm not saying the ring isn't cool.

The tangible souvenirs don't stop on the 4th floor. On 2nd, you can make a custom crayon label, and then use the wrapping machine to properly affix it.

One of the most fun things is something that you can  do anywhere.

They had a huge coloring table with all of the crayon colors you could imagine, and coloring sheets in a variety of difficulty levels. I know that some people get into a Zen-like state when coloring mandalas, but the most enjoyable sheet for me was a picture of two crayons riding bikes.

It's just a reminder that no matter how much they add and embellish, there is a huge amount of enjoyment in a simple pack of paper and a box of crayons.

Crayola Experience - Arriving in Easton

The pounding rain that escorted us out of Philadelphia had mostly stopped by the time we got to Easton, leaving us with a gray morning.

However, just before we pulled up in front of the bus station, there was a splash of color.

We had no idea that we would be so close!

Our original plan had been to take our bags to the hotel, which was not supposed to be far away, then come back and do the tour. Well, looking around, our hotel was not far by car, but it was not somewhere you could walk to at all. That made it seem that we might have to take two taxis, or lug around our bags with us. They did have lockers, but they were too small to help us. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask.

The security manager let us keep our bags in his office. This allowed us to explore all four floors unhindered. I want to spend a few weeks going over that, because there was a lot of cool stuff, and I don't want to shortchange.

For us, that fun time started out with great customer service making our visit a lot easier.


http://www.crayolaexperience.com/easton