The Crayola Factory in Easton, Pennsylvania: A Visitor's Guide

On our family vacation this summer, we made a stop at the Crayola Factory in Easton, Pennsylvania. It was a surprise side trip for the kids and as they were arguing in the back seat about a lost orange crayon, my husband and I joked about how they would soon be in a place where there was no such thing as a lost crayon! Little did they know that they were about to enter into crayon heaven!

The Crayola Factory is nestled in the quaint town of Easton, PA. There are a few ways of entering into this historic city, but since we were coming from our visit to Sesame Place in Philadelphia, we were entering from the south. We traveled up Easton Road, which in our big city lives, felt very much like a back road. Back road or not, the scenery was breathtaking. We drove for some time admiring the stone houses, large farms, and the beauty of the Delaware River. As we entered Easton, we were struck by both its beauty and it’s small town charm. Right in the center of town you will find the Crayola Factory.

Parking was easy to find. It was just across the street from the Crayola Factory in a parking garage. The rate is hourly and is paid upon exit. There are some spots to park on the street but it is limited. Your best bet is the garage.

The cost of entrance to the Crayola Factory is $9.75 for ages 3 and up. Children 2 and younger are admitted free. There is a senior discount of $9.25 and a military discount of $8.75. Additional discounts are given for AAA members and there is half price admission for late day entrance. The entrance fee also includes the National Canal Museum. We arrived late in the day due to some travel delays so we did not tour this part of the museum but it is part of the admission cost.

This place is an arts and crafts wonderland. When you purchase your tickets to enter, you receive tokens. These tokens are good for activities and souvenirs throughout the factory. For example, children can exchange a token for modeling clay or put a token in one of the giant marker tubes for a box of crayons or a marker. Most of the parts of this center are hands on or with a live action demonstration. There is an area that is more of a gallery in which the history of Crayola Crayons is displayed along with some interesting facts and beautiful pieces of art made with crayons.

There are some amazing things to learn as you explore the gallery area. There are displays of art made from crayons and markers, the history of Crayola, unique merchandise that has been sold by Crayola over the years, a wall of fame, and the chronology of Crayola. This is very interesting reading for adults and perhaps for older children but does not really hold the attention of younger kids. For them, there is a place where they are able to sit and create with color explosion markers while the grown ups read up on all of that history!

When you first enter the Crayola factory, you enter into a room where young budding artists explore a variety of techniques and medium. There are many tables filled with markers and crayons for children to draw pictures, create models using model magic. Model magic was a new product for me. I must admit that I'm not always quick to jump on the Crayola bandwagon with all of their new products but this one was pretty cool. The material is almost a light and foamy feeling, not as heavy as clay or play dough. What is also very cool about it is that along with shaping it into the object that you want, you can use markers to color it. The material will then harden into a more permanent display. In this area there is also an additional creation room. This room is for more involved projects and are available to customers at an additional charge.

No need to worry about the rain washing away your creations here. This inside sidewalk is a chalk creators dream. Filled with slate tiles, chalk, and erasers, children are able to draw pictures, make hop scotches, and more on this chalk walk. My son in particular enjoyed this area of the Crayola Factory.

Crayola After Dark is a very cool example of the limitless possibilities of your imagination. Guests use a lighted writing instrument to create drawings and designs with a glowing light. It leaves a sort of light trail as you create your image on the board. It was a very unique experience for us and my husband and daughter had a great time with this.

Cool Moves is a great place to get moving! There is music playing in this area and children are encouraged to jump, dance, and just move. As they move, their images are projected onto a screen in a variety of colors. Different things happen as they move. Sometimes there are flashes of the image in different colors, other times there is a sort of trail of colors that is left behind. In any case, the kids love to jump around and see what they can create with their bodies and movements.

In the project area, there is a monthly theme that guides the project ideas. While we were there, Crayola Factory was celebrating its fifteenth birthday. Since it was a birthday celebration, they had projects like birthday cards, birthday hats, etc. There is an employee in the area to help and guide children through the projects and refill any supplies that are low.

In this area of the Crayola Factory, children can create their own pieces of art using crayons from the largest crayon caddy in the world! There are pictures to color or kids can draw their own.

Next to this caddy is the Easton Press and Bindery. Guests are able to explore print making by creating and binding their own stories. They can even create stamps from foam and have then enjoying using that stamp in their other creations. This area is both fun and educational.

Although the name of this place is the Crayola Factory, there is not really a factory in the large sense of the word on premises. There is however a demonstration area where guests are able to see the way that the crayola crayons are manufactured. Unfortunately we missed the demonstration but we were able to see the machines that craft these crayons each day. The crayons that are created here in the factory are then placed in souvenir boxes for guests to take home. The boxes are in the large vending type machines that are available for purchase with tokens.

Your last stop on your great Crayola Factory experience is at the gift shop. The gift shop is actually a separate store. As you exit the Crayola Factory, you will find the store just a few doors down the sidewalk. Be ware. As you enter the store you will find that you have entered Crayola heaven. There are t-shirts, mugs, key chains, and of course every Crayola art material that you both have and have never seen! It also houses the world's largest crayon. It is quite amazing to think that this is an actual crayon!

You will be sure to enjoy your experience your time at the Crayola Factory. Evan as an adult, you will be pushed to tap into your inner Picasso as you wander through the halls of these great exhibits. Plan to spend a few hours exploring both the exhibits and the store. If you are going to also explore the National Canal Museum, plan to add some extra time to your visit.