Best Crayons: Review of Brands (Update 2021)

Nothing is as inspiring and exciting than the feeling when you open a new box of crayons. These wax sticks are lined up like colorful soldiers, which remind us of a careless childhood and our favorite activities. A simple box is able to evoke vivid memories and make us happy.

Much water has flown under the bridge since that time. WoWPencils has done a thorough analysis and examined the situation on the market of crayons today. Here are the top-rated representatives that are reliable and safe to use. This review will help you to find your favorite crayon type for creating masterpieces.

Top 12 Rated Crayons

Rank	Review	Product Name	Price	Pack	Rating
1		Crayola Silly Scents	Check Here	24	9.9
2		Crayola Crayon Tub	Check Here	240	9.8
3		Crayola Crayon Classpack	Check Here	800	9.7
4		Сrayola 60th Anniversary	Check Here	64	9.6
5		Faber-Castell Gelatos	Check Here	15	9.5
6		Honeysticks	Check Here	12	9.4
7		Crayola Ultra-Clean Washable	Check Here	24	9.2
8		Stockmar	Check Here	16	9.1
9		Crayola Bathtub	Check Here	9	8.9
10		Melissa & Doug Triangular	Check Here	24	8.8
11		Conte a Paris Assorted	Check Here	18	8.7
12		NOYO	Check Here	36	8.6

Crayola Silly Scents Scented Crayons

With this set of Crayola Silly Scents crayons from a renowned brand, your kids will create vibrant artworks that have an amazing smell. The collection includes 24 media with a plethora of sweet and fruity scents (cinnamon, strawberry, lemon, apple, orange, pineapple, etc.) that arrive in a colorful character-themed art case. The markers’ flavors are always a hit with young artists and make them smell each time before coloring. The tools help kids unleash their creativity and inspiration for imaginative work.

Aside from having fun scents, the crayons are comfortable to use. They feature plastic barrels, which eliminate the need of peeling off a paper wrapper. In addition, the units don’t require sharpening since they have a twistable design. Just twist the medium to advance a colored core.

Crayola Crayon Tub (Bulk Set)

The Crayola Crayon Tub is a fantastic bulk kit for all coloring fans. This giant set includes 120 colors that are duplicated making it a 240-item collection. All media are grouped in 15 small paper boxes with 16 items each. Each sleeve comes with a random mix of hues. Also, these cardboard boxes can be used as mini coloring pages (cute cartoons).

The crayons arrive in a plastic container, which is a nice storage place that encourages kids to keep the media organized. The tools are double-wrapped for extra durability. There are color names on each wrapper. The variety of shades makes toddlers crazy about the crayons, and besides, they can easily share. The individually packaged groupings can be reorganized up to your taste.

Crayola Crayon Classpack

Have you ever seen 800 crayons in one set? Crayola offers a bulk pack that includes 16 vibrant colors with 50 crayons of each color. Along with primary colors, there are many in-between hues.

Nicely organized in a cardboard box with individual sections, these drawing media are a great option for classroom projects. This is a perfect solution for a large group of students if you want to make individual and equal sets for each learner.

The selection has an affordable price tag, so some parents and teachers buy these crayons for melting.

Crayola 60th Anniversary: Good for Toddlers

Crayola brand celebrates its 60th anniversary and presents a retro-inspired tin of crayons for those who remember its first box introduced in 1958. The decorative vintage-style tin is printed with images which predate this year, and it includes a small information card that tells the history of the first box. It will be a perfect memorable gift to treat all art enthusiasts and collectors with a nostalgic feeling.

These crayons are manufactured at Crayola’s own facility in Pennsylvania. The collectible edition includes a set of 64 colors with an incorporated sharpener. The wonderful colors make everyone chuckle at their names – Electric Lime, Atomic Tangerine, Inch Worm, Piggy Pink, or Macaroni.

This set is a nice trip down a memory lane and a creative tool for drawing which makes the gift both funny and functional. It will be warmly welcomed in the hearts and homes of adult Crayola fans and their kids.

Faber-Castell Gelatos: Perfect for Artists

Gelatos are a multi-purpose medium, a pigment crayon, which is water soluble. It can be used with or without water for highlighting day planners or creating watercolor paintings. Gelatos can be blended and combined to make new color shades, or mixed with other mediums.

This set includes 15 fascinating metallic colors, so it is not easy to pick a favorite one – Iced Coffee, Gold Champagne, Iced Pear, Iced Rose, Metallic Mint, Iced Currant, etc. All colors are great at making accents and for backgrounds. There is also a paintbrush and two blending tools.

Gelatos come in a clear storage case, which makes it easy to transport and keep the crayons organized. These mediums work perfectly on wood, canvas, and paper. Every artist and beginner will enjoy the best quality of Faber-Castell, a creator of art supplies and materials since 1761.

Honeysticks: Best Non Toxic Crayons

Honeysticks are handmade in New Zealand and have 100% organic ingredients. No paraffin wax is used in the production — just natural beeswax, which minimizes the risks of environmental pollution.

As a byproduct of any honey manufacturing process, beeswax is safe for infants and kids of all ages. Food dyes are used as color pigments and present a palette of 12 amazing shades. A delightful honey scent makes the drawing process more pleasant.

The unique shape of these crayons offers a comfortable grip for small hands and prevents honeysticks from breaking. These mediums have been tested in schools and gotten the approval of both kids and teachers.

Crayola Ultra-Clean Washable: Cool for Kids

This time, Crayola presents an essential tool for creative kids and provides them with a set of 24 crayons of the brightest colors that inspire imaginative play and self-expression. A unique ultra-clean color formula is specially designed to be easily removed from clothing, skin, walls, and other substrates.

These mediums perfectly suitable for home coloring or school projects. The comfortable portable box is compact enough to fit in a school bag, but big enough to accommodate the whole variety of colors. These high-quality crayons will ensure long-lasting results.

Stockmar: Top Wax Crayons

Manufactured in Germany, this Stockmar set of 16 wax crayons provides brilliant coloring and long-lasting quality. They are made of natural beeswax and have a wonderful honey scent, which makes them a favorite for both kids and parents.

The block crayon shape is convenient for drawing – placing it on one side for drawing skies and using its edge to write letters. The lack of additives and natural wax transparency results in a unique coloring, which resembles drawings made by watercolor.

Crayola Bathtub: Great for Bath Fun

Crayola cares about little artists and wants them to practice even during bath time. Let your kids show their artistic talent while cleaning up. Washable crayons give more inspiration when used on the walls of bathtubs. Be cautious, because these mediums should be used only on non-porous surfaces and should be tested first on small areas.

The set includes 9 crayons of different colors and 60 multicolored drops that will turn ordinary bath water into a fantastic lagoon. Just put a drop into the water and let it dissolve. Your kids will enjoy a color rainbow of Laser Lemon Yellow, Jungle Green, Cotton Candy Pink, Little Boy Blue, etc. When cleaning up is finished, just wipe the walls and all the colors will come off.

Melissa & Doug Triangular: Easy to Hold

This set of 24 multicolor crayons produced by Melissa & Doug has a number of characteristics which distinguish it from other brands. The mediums are made of plastic and include no wax, which makes them more durable; however, they go smoothly on paper.

Their triangular shape is ideal for tiny and inarticulate hands and helps them to develop a proper grip for writing skills. The crayons have no wrappers, and the kids waste no time peeling them off. It also makes them easier to sharpen. The flat plastic container is very comfortable, as it displays all colors with no need to grab the needed one out of the box.

Conte a Paris Assorted: Good for Drawing

This cute box of crayons developed by Conte a Paris has 3 drawers which accommodate a spectrum of 18 magnificent colors. This brand is known all over the world for its quality art supplies. These mediums are perfect for making portraits, still lifes, sketches, or landscapes in order to achieve a unique color depth.

The box holds 4 typical Conte colors (black, white, sepia, and brown) and a rainbow assortment of 14 other vivid shades. The crayons apply smoothly and are good for blending and shading.

The case is portable and provides good organization. The set is a perfect idea for a gift.

NOYO: Perfect for Coloring

This set of NOYO crayons contains 36 colors heavily pigmented for making vivid and bright drawings. They are better than ordinary crayons and are able to create amazing watercolor and pastel effects. Smudged with a damp finger, the drawing looks like it was done with pastel. If you add water, a watercolor effect is achieved. The pigment will not wrinkle your drawing and will not crack when it dries.

These mediums give the unique opportunity for specific highlighting and blending color details. They work perfectly even on dark paper and wood. They have a creamy texture and glide on the paper smoothly, so young users don’t have to exert pressure to make dark lines.

Best Crayons in 2020 (Unavailable Now)

Review	Product Name	Pack
	Crayola Mini Twistables	50

Crayola Mini Twistables: Best Set of Crayons

This set of Crayola Mini Twistables includes 50 crayons ideal for making art projects and drawings, filling in coloring books, and doing other crafts. These tools require no sharpening, so peeling labels and messy shavings are left behind. Just twist the crayons up to start drawing and twist them down when you are done.

The tools are inserted in a plastic barrel, so this mechanism helps to protect them from accidental breaking. The barrel is clear to be able to see the color inside.

50 bright color shades let kids create real masterpieces. The mediums come in a reusable box, which can be employed for storage. This portable kit is designed for children on the go.

Guide to Get the Best Crayons

Today, crayons are available for everyone – for kids to color books and for artists who earn their living with their paintings. That is why it is very important to find quality and proper tools. All these drawing instruments can be categorized into:

Oil-based crayons (oil pastels) are highly pigmented. They never dry and have to be sealed. Such drawings should be covered with a piece of transparent fabric or paper.

Waxed-based tools are the most typical and commonly-used crayons.

Water soluble crayons should be activated with water or a water brush. Such drawings look like watercolors.

Pastel dye sticks are actually dyes, and they are a little pricey. They are used for coloring T-shirts or even spots of grey hair.

The list covers almost all aspects to consider when choosing the best crayons. The choice of mediums for adults may be less strict and include fewer points. Usually the accent is made on the quality of the drawing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Even people who use crayons every day may be taken by surprise when asked some facts about these wax sticks. To be sure that you are a connoisseur of this writing tool, here are some entertaining facts to know.

Cool Facts About Crayons

Crayons have had a long history and thus there are a lot of amusing and interesting facts to share.

Initially, these cylinder-shaped tools were made of oil and charcoal, but then grew to be sophisticated art supplies. They are mentioned even in Pride and Prejudice, a classic book by Jane Austen. Now crayons are a complex hybrid of chalk, wax, oil, watercolor, and grease. Let’s see what captivating stories they have to tell us.

Who and When Invented Crayons?

The first techniques of mixing pigments with beeswax and crayon drawings were described by a Roman scholar, Pliny the Elder.

The first contemporary crayons appeared in Europe. They were manufactured of oil and charcoal. Then wax substituted for oil, which strengthened the writing sticks and made them easier to handle. Most people think of the Crayola brand when they hear about crayons. Binney and Smith invented the first crayons in 1902.

Initially, crayons included toxic ingredients to achieve the necessary color shades. Later, the manufacturers found kid-safe substitutions for toxic components. Such crayons had wrappers around the stick, which meant they were for kids. Regular crayons were developed without wrappers – for adults.

What Does Crayon Mean?

The word “crayon” is also French and dates back to 1644. It comes from two words that mean “chalk” and “Earth.”

How Many Colors Were in First Box of Crayola Crayons in 1903?

Crayola introduced its first box of crayons in 1903. The set included 8 colors – blue, red, orange, green, black, yellow, brown, and violet. Today, the same colors are found in a pack of 8 as well.

How Many Colors of Crayons Are There?

These crayons are recognizable almost by every American adult, and they currently come in a 120-color spectrum with each having a particular name, RGB value, and a hex code.

The original color names have never changed, but there are several exceptions. The Prussian Blue was changed to Midnight Blue in 1958 due to teachers’ recommendations that kids don’t relate them to history facts. The Flesh color was changed to Peach because flesh shades differ for everyone.

In fact, Crayola colors include a dozen more, but they are difficult to get. Most of these shades have been issued as a special edition or retired, for example, Oprah’s “The Color Purple.”

What Was Price of First Box of Crayons?

Binney and Smith sold their first box of wax sticks for a nickel. The set contained the 8 traditional Crayola colors available now.

How Many Crayons Does Crayola Make in Year?

Each year, Crayola manufactures 3 billion crayons, which amounts to 12 million crayons a day. This is enough to circle the Earth 6 times. In the last 100 years, Crayola issued more than 100 billion mediums.

In addition to the production of wax sticks, the company also makes colored pencils, markers, chalk sticks, paint, and other art materials.

Why Do Marines Eat Crayons?

The “Marines eat crayons” phrase is a joke meaning to state that Marines are mentally retarded people. Children with mental deficiencies may occasionally eat glue and crayons when left alone. For some reason, they think that it is food. This saying means that Marines are just as “stupid” as kids.

In fact, there are plenty of jokes with similar insinuations, which portray Marines as the least intelligent members of the US armed services. There is a stereotype that the only reason people join the Marines is that they were not smart enough for college. The army is the only branch that takes low qualified personnel. Some of them may have no job experience, have drug charges, were involved in gang activity, etc.

Not all these jokes are true in real life. Most Marines accept this line of humor without being insulted.

Artists Who Use Crayons

Lots of artists use crayons in their art projects. The most famous French painters of the 16th-17th centuries were Nicholas L’agneau and Francois Clouet.

Early modeled portraits of Clouet created with crayons caught the attention of Henry V, who made him a court artist and knighted him. In his portraits, L’agneau used both wax crayons and watercolor. His paintings always illustrated people who looked surprised.

Sister Gertrude Morgan from New Orleans was known for preaching the Gospel with simple crayon drawings. They depicted biblical text with easy to understand images for those who were unfamiliar with the Bible. The owner of an art gallery, E. Lorenz Borenstein, noticed those drawings and let Sister Gertrude show her works and play music in his gallery in order to spread the word of God. Her works are now available to be seen in the American Folk Art Museum, NY.

Jeffrey Robert, Kristina Nelson, and Don Marco are modern professional artists who use crayons in their works.

How Much Does the World’s Largest Crayon Weigh?

The Big Blue is the largest crayon in the world made from blue leftover crayons sent by kids around the United States. The giant is 17 feet (5.2 m) long and 1.6 feet (0.45 m) in diameter. It weighs 1,500 pounds (681 kg). The achievement was verified as a Guinness world record in October 2017 in Jamaica.

What Is America’s Favorite Crayon?

A national poll conducted among 25,000 American consumers revealed that US citizens are in love with the color blue and all its shades, like denim or aquamarine. Blue crayons are the favorites among all other colors.

Summing Up

According to a study carried out by Yale University, the specific smell of crayons belongs to the top 20 scents that are easily recognized by American adults (along with peanut butter and coffee, which occupy the leading positions).

Life-long love to these classic writing tools is a happy memory, like a flashback to those times when we created, played, and were inspired by a simple pack of pencils. Choose high-grade mediums for your kids for them to be also a part of your history. Get a blank sheet of paper and your favorite crayon. Let the fun begin!

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