Think back to when you were a child, do you remember the first time someone placed a chubby wax stick into your little fist and gave you a scrap of paper. Do you remember someone taking your hand, and placing that waxy stick down against the paper, moving your wee arm so that suddenly, like magic, there were marks on that paper, and they seemed to come from the end of that wax stick. Maybe it was red, perhaps blue, or even green. but a crayon was likely the first writing instrument you held in your hand and put to paper. It is a powerful moment, whether you remember it or not, the moment you discover that you can create scribbles and dashes of colour with your own hand.
Some of us had this experience at home with a family member, maybe it was mom or dad, or an older sibling... perhaps your aunt or uncle, a grandparent. Sometimes, we were given our first wax crayon by a nanny, daycare worker, or teacher. Whoever gave it to you, gave you a gift, the gift of learning that you could create something that was 'art', something that could be hung on the front of the fridge, or framed, or tucked into an album or scrapbook and kept for years to come. Our crayon creations were the cleanest and fastest way of not only being entertained, but of learning fine motor control and hand eye coordination.
Do you remember the joy of getting a new box of crayons? I do, I loved that smell, that clean waxy odor, and the sharp tips ready to go. Not a broken or unwrapped crayon in the box, and they were all mine. Sure we had plenty of crayons in my house. There were four of us kids born within five years, and all those crayons literally required a plastic dish basin to hold all the broken bits and pieces, the peeled paper bits. At some point along the way, companies like Crayola introduced toddler sized crayons, larger diameter sticks made for smaller hands. There was also that mega-box that I adored, it had something like 64 colours in it, and a sharpener built right into the back of the box. That was joy in a box.
Since it is Wacky & Wonderful day, a day for all those geeky fun and fabulous things, the collectables and the vintage childhood fun, I decided to dedicate today's post to the humble and hardworking crayon, an item I still adore, by the way. I love sitting with my nieces or nephew and revisiting the fun of colouring books full of cartoon characters or games, I still colour the same way that I did as an older child, I do a dark line of the colour inside the shape I am about to colour, then I gently shade in the whole area with the same colour. Habits are hard to break.The smell of that wax always brings me right back to being a kid.
I love teaching kids my favorite crayon magic tricks. The one where you fill an entire sheet of paper with random color scribbles, edge to edge, then cover the entire sheet again with thick black crayon. A random coin in hand, and you can then scratch out a picture, removing the black wax from the page with the coin to produce a really magical effect. Yes I know they sell something similar, and that it is much less labor intensive.
What really is wonderful about crayons these days, is that they are very much the same deal as they always were, they are still the first writing instrument many of us use, they still come in tons of amazing colours, you can still create amazing 'art' with them, and they are a cheap anytime activity that is fun for anyone at any age. What is even better about crayons lately, is just how different they can be.
If you are browsing Etsy, you will see just how amazing crayons can be. There are handmade crayons, recycled crayons, crayon art, crayon caddies, crayons in all sorts of wonderful shapes and sizes, and more. This entire post is full of these lovely rainbow hued items, and there is just so much to love about them. Even just a photograph of crayons or the image of that old familiar yellow and green box makes for happy memories. Why not grab yourself a box, or bag, or frame full of wonderful rainbow memories today. Share a little time scribbling, you might be surprised how much you have missed it.
Note: All Images and Products In This Post are the Intellectual Property and Copyright of their respective creators and the Etsy shop in question. No Infringement is intended. Please follow the links beneath the image for more information, including price, availability, and custom orders if available.
What a wonderful collection of colorful and unique items!! I love seeing the many uses of how to use/display crayons. Great ways to encourage a young child's mind.
ReplyDeleteThank you for including our Wooden Crayon Train - Crayon Holder.
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