By: Janel Spiegel and Joe Scrizzi

 

The Crayola Experience

30 Centre Square, Easton, PA 18042

On May 6, 2022, me and Joe Scrizzi visited the Crayola Experience in Easton, Pa. There are five locations total including: Chandler, AZ, Mall of America, MN, Orlando, FL, Plano, TX, and of course Easton, Pa.

In August everyone will get to experience the Kubota Tractors at Crayola Experience. The tour starts in June in Orlando, FL on May 17, 2022 and continues on. Connie Walker, the Communication and Content Manager was kind enough to invite The Valley Ledger to visit the Crayola Experience.

Joe Scrizzi, The Valley Ledger, and myself met with Jenn Murray, the Marketing and Sales Manager. Jenn was kind enough to give us the full tour which is self-guided when you visit. Jenn was kind enough to give The Valley Ledger the full Crayola experience.

The Crayola experience is such an important part of life and history. It’s also a place that continues the traditions of staying family friendly and making everything interactive for the kids, and even the grown-ups. The Crayola Experience in Easton, Pa was The Crayola Factory, it was opened in 1996. They turned it into a family attraction in May of 2013.

Jenn took Joe Scrizzi and myself around the Crayola experience. She answered all of our questions with enthusiasm and kindness. You can tell the employees are so much more than employees. They are part of the family too. They embrace the jobs they have and what they do at Crayola. You can also volunteer and help out with certain projects at Crayola.

The Crayola Experience is “65,000 feet of attractions.” You can spend up to four hours checking everything out. You can make your own coloring book page; you can wrap your own Crayola crayon and pick the color. You can take the 4-D adventure, you can learn how Crayola crayons are made in the Lehigh Valley.

Crayola takes care of the teachers too. They are doing teacher appreciation projects at Crayola experience. Teachers also get some great perks year-round. The Crayola Experience is probably the only place kids can draw on the floors and the walls.

Just a few of the activities include: Chaos and Creativity Show, Activity Studio, Big Blue is a giant crayon “created from 123,000 blue crayons donated from all around the world.” It weighs 1,500 lbs.

The Café Stage, Character Meet-n-Greets, Colossal Caddy, The Crayola Store, Drip Art made with crayons, Modeling Madness, Paint Palette, Outside The Box, Rainbow Rain, Puzzle It!, Silly Selfies, Stomp and Play, Toddler Town, Texture CRAYze, Water Works, You Design, and so much more.

There is parking nearby and as for Crayola Crayons, they were invented by Binney & Smith in 1902, and they manufacture “over 3 billion crayons each year.”

 

Interview with Jenn Murray

(Marketing and Sales Manager at The Crayola Experience in Easton, Pa.)

Spiegel– Hi Jenn, what do you do here at Crayola Experience, and what does your job entail?

Murray – I’m the marketing and sales manager. I handle all of the marketing for this location. We have five locations.

Spiegel– What is your favorite aspect about Crayola?

Murray– I grew up in the Lehigh Valley, and I love the family memories that it creates.

Scrizzi– Do you have a favorite crayon or attraction here?

Murray– My favorite color is Scarlett, it’s like a red orange. My favorite attraction here is called, Wrap It Up! You can name and wrap you’re own Crayola crayon.

Spiegel– What are some of the events you do at Crayola? I think it’s important to have a place for families to go.

Murray – We do birthday parties; we did paint and sips. It’s all about the Crayola brand and the experience. You can also customize a two-pound crayon in our gift store.

Spiegel– Have you visited any of the other Crayola factories or locations?

Murray – Yes, absolutely. I’ve been at the Crayola Distribution Center in Bethlehem, Pa., and the main place where we make crayons is right in Forks Township.

Spiegel– Will you be updating or adding on anything to the Crayola Experience?

Murray– We keep the favorite attractions but we do always change the crafts on the third floor. We will take out an exhibit and replace it with a new one. We started take-overs and we were partnered with OceanX last summer to include ocean-themed activities. This summer we will be working with Kubota.

We stopped and talked with Sally. She works at the Crayola Experience. Sally said, Crayola is her happy place.

Spiegel– What do you love about working here?

Sally– My co-workers. It’s a great place to work.

Murray– This is unique to the Crayola Experience in Easton, it’s the Water Works display. This is an attraction that you can learn about how the canal works. The canal is about five minutes down the road from here. Easton was dependent on it. It’s one of the top attractions because it’s educational. It’s a fun display.

Scrizzi– Has the Water Works display changed at all?

Murray– Water Works has stayed the same.

Scrizzi– How many schools visit each day?

Murray– Yes, we like to spread them out. They do different events like birthday parties, and after-hour events for businesses.

Spiegel– Thank you so much, Jenn. It was so great to meet you and talk to you. Thank you for this experience.

Scrizzi– Thank you Jenn.

Murray– Thank you both.

 

The CRAYOLA EXPERIENCE:

https://www.crayolaexperience.com/at-home-shop

https://www.crayolaexperience.com/easton/things-to-do/attractions

https://www.crayolaexperience.com/easton

CRAYOLA – https://www.crayola.com/