Crayola Wonderful World of Color!

Last week, my sister JoAnne came, along with her sister-in-law (for a night). Then, we washed and changed sheets, and on Sunday, Kevin, April, and Peter came, bringing with them, Jeremy, who flew in the day before. Such a great time with so much of the family with us. We FaceTimed with Natalie, all the way in Nicaragua. We had strawberry shortcake for dinner (a tradition from my Dad’s mom). That night, all the beds had occupants, in addition to a couple of inflatable mattresses with sleepers.

Monday, we played games through the day and into the evening, and had Schmaltz’s for lunch (we’re trying to incorporate all the family traditions). Tuesday, we went to Butter my Biscuit for lunch (we also like to start new traditions). We were going to cook out, but nobody really wanted to spend any time at all outdoors in the sweltering heat, so we broiled those hot dogs in the oven.

Wednesday morning, we got up early and Jeremy and Peter and I took JoAnne to DFW airport, to fly back home to Everett, Washington. (She says, at the last minute, the plane couldn’t land in the smaller Paine Field, due to fog. They had to fly on to SEATAC to land and refuel before flying back to Everett. Arrival was 3 hours late. Kevin suggests that planes allow all passengers to carry a ziplock bag of jet fuel with them, so the plane could be refueled in midair.)

After leaving JoAnne at the airport, Jeremy and Peter and I went to Plano to a mall, where, per JoAnne’s sister-in-law, there was an interesting place called The Crayola Experience. She’d taken her great-nephew there and he’d enjoyed it. And, oh, my, it is pretty nifty.

We put all the crayons (and there were several) in a bag that we had gotten when we came in, as the Crayola Experience knew that we’d be taking home quite a bit of stuff.

There is a playscape area where kids can also climb and slide and bounce, bounce, bounce, when they need a P.E. break.

There was a little theater that had some animated crayons that talked about crayon-creating. There were some crayon-creating apparatus at the front of the theater, too. Then, after the crayons said their information, an actual human being came out and showed us how the melting machine worked and how the crayons came out of the liquid wax and became actual crayons. And, when we left, we got actual crayons (but not the ones that had just been made).

There were a couple of places to purchase food. For lunch, I had a salad, Jeremy had chicken strips, and Peter had a slice of cheese pizza. We shared an order of onion rings. So, snack sorts of food, but, folks don’t really go to the Crayola Experience for good food, do they.

We had received a few tokens when we went in. They paid for the crayon wrapping area, and the Model Magic. Most things didn’t require any extra payment. The panning area did. There were four sizes of bags, ranging from $7.98 to $24.98. I told Peter I would pay for the $7.98 bag or the $9.98 bag. He graciously chose the less expensive one. He’s been really interested in panning for stones, lately, and this was, I think, his most favorite activity.

I suppose that most folks don’t spend much time evaluating crayons, unless they’re involved in making art, but, as a person who’s spent years working with young children, I can tell you that Crayola crayons are really and truly much better than other crayons. The cheaper the crayon, the less effective it is. Crayola crayons last longer, cover more effectively, and melt much better. One thing that preschool teachers sometimes do is to melt down crayon stubs and broken crayon pieces (in an old muffin tin, or a foil baking cup in a muffin tin) to make chunky crayons for drawing. Inexpensive crayons melt unevenly, and often the ingredients separate into a waxy clear part and a uneven color part.

When I was getting ready for collage day at Fun with Friends this summer, I went through a big box of broken crayons at church. I threw away any non-Crayola crayon. I found lots of the colors I wanted, all in Crayola versions. I took them home and removed whatever papers were still on them. I actually have an electric crayon sharpener (like an electric pencil sharpener, but made for crayons). I spent a few hours, shaving down the pieces to make crayon scraps.

I had this station in the hallway, with an extension cord on an iron (set very low). My plan was to take only one kid at a time out to this table to make a crayon shaving design on a piece of waxed paper. Then I would cover it with another piece of waxed paper and iron over it. It’s pretty interesting to see how all the colors melt and mix. When he took his melted crayon design back into the room, not only did every other kid want to do it, but they all gathered by the table to watch everyone else’s designs melt together. Lower-priced brands of crayons do not do this well.

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them!

Luke 6:31 (The Message)

We often look for quality in the things we purchase, the books and papers we read, the movies we watch. We want quality in the fresh food we purchase, the clothing we buy, and the vehicles we drive. If we value quality in the things around us for which we seek, we should also seek to be the quality people that other folks observe.