19 Fabulous Reasons To Get Creative At The Crayola Experience
19 Fabulous Reasons To Get Creative At The Crayola Experience
The Crayola Experience in Easton, PA is so much creative fun for kids and parents! Here are 17 reasons why!
There are some places that are just so much fun you wish you were a kid again. The Crayola Experience in Easton, PA is absolutely one of those places. Wow. What a neat concept for an attraction/museum!
Your kids will be engaged with countless creative activities for at least 3-4 hours, maybe longer. This attraction is awesome in any season and honestly, you will have just as much fun as your kids. Why? Because you get to be creative too!
There are so many reasons we had a blast at The Crayola Experience. Read on for a few highlights.
Here is the biggest tip I can give you– Start at the top and work your way down! Why? Because apparently most people start on the 1st floor. This is the same logic as amusement parks where you start where most people end up. Also, two of the attractions on the top floor have limited capacity, so there will be a line. If you start at the top when Crayola Experience opens up, you might not have to wait in line!
1. Melted Crayon Drawings
I love this station and could spend a fair amount of time here, even without kids in tow. The concept is simple.. use special tools to paint with melted crayons. This was the perfect station to start with and get us warmed up (ha ha.. pun intended) for the rest of the fun to come!
2. Drip ARt
Drip art, spin art– whatever you call it, it’s pretty cool. Basically you pick two colors and put the crayons, one at a time, into a spinning melted crayon machine. Then, as it’s spinning, your kids (or you if you create one), control the speed of the spinning until the crayon is melted.
The finished products are very pretty!
3. Melt and Mold
So, have you noticed a theme with the top floor yet? Yep, all of the activities here involve melted crayons! Melt and Mold is really neat because your kids can pick either a ring or an emoji (I think.. the second shape might change). Then, they take their crayon, put it in the machine, and the melted crayon is formed into a shape (we did the ring). Voila! Bling!
4. The Color Playground and Scribble Square
You will totally see this awesome playground from the 4th floor and your kids will squeal with delight and want to rush through all the melted crayon fun to go play. Ask me how I know.
If you time the 4th floor activities right you won’t spend a ton of time up there and then your kids will probably burn tons of time and energy here. The playground is amazing. It can get kind of overwhelming for younger kids (but there is a solution for that.. read on). However, I think most kids will have a blast playing here.
Another fun activity is these blank canvas animals (I think the actual animal is rotated). Kids can grab a few markers and scribble scrabble away! So much fun.. and they won’t get in trouble for drawing on the walls!
5. Activity Studio and Paint Palette
Crayola Experience had a genius solution for parents who don’t really want to stand around for 45 minutes while their kids play in the playground. In the playground area there are probably a dozen Activity Studio tables with rotating art projects. Clearly, kids can and do make these projects. They are really fun!
However, ummmm… both times we visited Crayola Experience, I took my artistic side out for a spin while my daughter played.
Not bad for a middle-aged Mom!
In addition to these non-messy activities, there are also daily painting projects kids can participate in. And, for an extra fee you can even get a crayola waxed mold of your hand!
6. Adventure Lab
Adventure Lab features a room with a series of stations that have computer games. They seem to all be educational (like this one pictured above) but are really a lot of fun! I think my daughter was better at achieving the objective of the games than I was… ha… kids.
7. Be A Star
There are so many fun activities that will give you something to put in that bag you get at the beginning. This activity is great. You actually get a photo taken and then a coloring sheet is made out of your photo. How cool is that? I am not sure I will ever color mine.. but it is fun!
8. Shows and Demonstrations
There are a few main shows you can check out. In the Crayon Factory Show, you can see how crayons are made and witness baby crayons being born.
And if you time it right, you can watch fun science experiments with your favorite Crayola Products, while you eat lunch or a snack, on the Cafe Stage. Both shows are really a lot of fun.
9. Color Magic
The Color Magic area was incredible! Basically there are various themed coloring pages you can choose from. You pick one and color it (which is pretty awesome and relaxing in its own right).
Then, you move over to the computer animation stations, scan your coloring page, and then create a magical world where your masterpiece comes to life!
You provide your email address and the finished product is sent to you so you can watch as many times as you want to.
10. Cool Moves
Get your groove on and show us all your moves! Basically, this is an interactive virtual experience where kids move and dance around and their crayon counterpart mimics them.
11. Colossal CAddy and Toddler Town
Here is that second playground area. This playground area is just for younger kids (3 and under I think). There are plenty of age appropriate play structures for toddlers and younger here. And there is another coloring station. This colossal caddy is basically an opportunity to just.. color.
12. Modeling Madness
When you enter Crayola Experience you will get two tokens. One of them is for modeling magic. You aren’t limited to one token, you just have to pay for more tokens to get more colors of this super squishy modeling clay. You actually put the coin into a modeling magic vending machine and pick your color(s). Then, there are a number of tables with modeling clay tools so you can design and make whatever suits your fancy!
13. Stomp and Play and other virtual fun
In addition to dancing with crayons, there are a number of other fun virtual reality type activities. You can create a cartoon drawing and then see it come to life on the big screen!
You can draw on back-lit surfaces (this was pretty cool).
And don’t miss the chance to have Rainbow Rain fall down on you!
14. Wrap It Up
This is one of my favorite parts of the Crayola Experience. It also takes one of the two coins you were given at the beginning.
First, pick your color. Typically there are about 1/2 a dozen colors to choose from. Then come up with a name for your personalized crayon. Once those details are set, the computer will spit out the wrapper and the crayon (unwrapped).
Now, go to the side where there are wrapper machines. You can choose to wrap it by hand, but it likely won’t turn out the way you want it to. The wrapper machine is fun to use and the end product is a nifty souvenir!
15. Water Works
Water Works is not a free for all water play area. Instead, it is an interesting and interactive way for kids to learn how canals work. This is particularly cool since the Lehigh Valley has a rich heritage of canals.
16. Big Blue and Great Photo Ops
Yep, your kids can get great shots with the biggest crayon in the world.
The outside of Crayola Experience is awesome for fun photo ops too.. and there are often character meet ‘n greets inside throughout the day!
17. Scribble Scrubbies
This activity was a new bonus activity and it was so much fun! Scribble Scrubbies are a new product that Crayola is rolling out. They are so adorable too (they come in a number of different characters). Basically you color them, and then if you don’t like your design you can wash them off and start over again!
My daughter liked her design but wanted the effect of watercolors.. I think these cuties are very fetching!
18. The Crayola Store
Normally, gift stores are the one part of a museum that parents try to rush through while covering their kids’ eyes.
Trust me, The Crayola Experience gift store is a destination you don’t want to miss. Not only will you see fun toys and art activities that aren’t normally in stores. But, check out that crayon wall (see above). Your kids can grab a bucket and then fill it will all the crayon colors offered by Crayola! The neon and metallic and glow in the dark colors are available here too!
This is one of the most fun shopping experiences ever!
19. The Trading Post and Extra Add-Ons
In addition to the melted crayon hand mold, at the Trading Post there are a few other upgrade you can purchase that are also a lot of fun! For a fee kids can do art with fabric or sand art, or more!
Know Before You Go:
- Crayola Experience is located at 30 Centre Square, Easton, PA 18042. Here is a link to the Google Maps directions: https://goo.gl/maps/j8ZHYCSKWQ7o9Sbe8
- Hours: every day (365 days a year!) from 10AM-6PM. How cool is that?
- Click here ticketing prices and annual pass info
- Food options:
- The Crayola Experience has a nice cafe located on premises. They offer a kid’s meal that includes a special Crayola box and crayons.
- Next door there is a cool place (pun intended) called Frozenlandia. This place has froyo, kid friendly eats, and its own indoor playground!
- Behind The Crayola Experience is another awesome place for ice cream called Bank Street Creamery. Unfortunately this creamery was closed when we stopped by, but we will be back! Also, the street is simply gorgeous… so many photo ops! You won’t want to miss it!
- Across the street/just behind The Crayola Experience is a great foodie destination. Honestly, you might want to save your appetite for Easton Public Market. There are so many kid and parent friendly food options here— Yummy! We loved Full of Crepe, Modern Crumb Bakeshop, Taylor Taco Shop, and Scratch. (and then we rolled out of the market to our car).
Where to Stay
We didn’t stay in Easton, PA because we were exploring the entire Lehigh Valley. However, I would highly recommend checking out this hotel that is a mere 30 minutes away in Allentown. Check it out!
If you have kids, you will absolutely want to stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Allentown West. We were hosted by Fairfield Inn & Suites for our stay, but I actually sought this hotel out because I heard so many great things about it. The hotel did not disappoint.
The rooms are really comfortable, with plenty of room for suitcases, a microwave, mini frig, and Keurig. The beds are very comfy (as in we both slept soundly). The complimentary breakfast has a wide variety of items, including mini-waffles. You will definitely not go hungry. Also, the hotel staff and management are super responsive to customer concerns and they take customer service very seriously.
The reason this hotel is so fabulous for families though is this pool! Oh. My. Goodness. It has a water-slide! Woo hoo! My daughter’s eyes lit up when she saw this pool and we probably spent 2 hours here every day we stayed in the hotel. The great thing about the water-slide is it is self contained. That means even younger kids can enjoy it without splashing into the deep end of the pool.
Here is the hotel information so you can make your reservations!
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Allentown West (click link to make a reservation)
208 Pennsylvania Route 100, Breinigsville, Pennsylvania 18031 USA (Google Map directions link)
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