Crayons

Crayons are sticks of colored wax that you use to draw and color. They come in many bright colors. Almost every kid has used crayons to make artwork at home or school.

The History of Crayons

People have used colored wax sticks for hundreds of years. But the crayons we know today were first made by Crayola in 1903. The first box had just eight colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black.

The name Crayola comes from French and Latin words meaning oily chalk. Over the years, the company added more and more colors. Today, Crayola makes crayons in over 120 different colors.

How Crayons Are Made

Crayons are made from paraffin wax and colored powder called pigment. The wax is melted and mixed with pigment. Then it is poured into molds shaped like crayon sticks. After the wax cools and hardens, the crayons are wrapped in paper labels.

The Crayola factory makes about 12 million crayons every single day. That is enough crayons to circle the Earth four times if you lined them all up.

Fun Facts

• The average kid uses about 730 crayons by the time they turn 10.
• The Crayola factory makes 12 million crayons every day.
• The most popular crayon color is blue.

Did You Know?

Crayola has retired several crayon colors over the years, including dandelion, which was removed in 2017.