The Crayola Factory

We took an impromptu trip to the Crayola Crayon factory today. The factory is located in Easton, PA, which is located along the New Jersey border not far from "The Northeast Extention" (A PA tollway that runs north and south, connecting I-76 - central and southern PA to I-80 - northern PA and the Poconos).

I have to admit that it was a bit overrated, especially since it was an 1 1/2 hour drive for us to get there along very windy, slow-moving highways, but the kids seemed to enjoy it. We thought that a visit to the Crayola factory would include a tour of the plant...or at least parts of it...followed by activities for the kids and the obligatory "gift shop" where people who are excited about the things they saw and caught up in the ambiance of the whole situation. We couldn't have been more wrong. There was no tour or display of the manufacturing of the famous crayons, only 10-15 different "activity centers" where the visitors could use Crayola products to create their own exhibits to bring home. Crayola provided the materials and the visitors used the materials to create to their hearts' content. There were some very cool activity centers, such as one that featured glow in the dark temporary markers (visitors used the lighted - yes, the tips of the markers were actually aglow - markers to draw on a white-board...the pictures they drew remained visible for approximately 30-seconds, then disappeared for the child to create anew.) and another that used laser-technology inside a generously-sized enclosure to create very cool laser-light-show-esque images along a huge screen (the images that were displayed in the vast arrays of designs and colors along the screen were actual silhouettes of the visitors who were running, dancing, standing, acting silly within the enclosure).

Other than those two, there wasn't anything there that couldn't have been done at my dining room table or patio...well, except for hundreds of kids running around and fighting (while not actually throwing blows) for sitting spots at these activity centers. It was crazy. But, aside from 2 Time Outs, Christopher seemed to have a good time. Given that, I suppose it was worth the trip.

Below is the link to the website that describes the exhibits.....

http://www.crayola.com/factory/exhibits.cfm

Christopher and I snuck off from the group and took a much needed break from all the festivities at the adjoined McDonalds...great bonding time.