Crayons are one of the first art supplies that go into little hands. It’s often the first time that a child experiences the world through a burst of color that they create. There’s also nothing like the smell of a new box of crayons, and the joy of organizing all 64 of them in color order…or is that just me? I set off to find out if all crayons were the same and came up with the perfect list of 5 different kinds of crayons perfect for art time at home or at school.
Crayola Favorites
Crayola Twistable
These crayons take away two of the biggest problems – sharpening, and the paper wrapper. With just a twist, the crayons are easy to color with again. You can get a smaller set, but my favorite is this pack of 24. It’s perfect for travel as well – no pieces of wrappers in the car, and no sharpener to bring that may dump crayon droppings.
Grab them on Amazon here.
Crayola NEON
A small box of 8 neon colors will brighten up any coloring. The box comes with three (sky blue, shamrock, and melon) that you will find in the regular box, but the neon ones pack a punch when coloring.
Grab the 8 pack here.
Crayola Pearl & Construction Paper
These newer Crayola variety have a slight shimmer that is almost imperceptible until you move the paper. The box of 24 has an extra perk – the colors all show up beautifully on darker paper, which is perfect for kids who love picking out dark blue, purple, or black to draw on. They’re a little more expensive than the traditional variant, but not having to worry about what paper to use is a huge perk.
The Construction Paper crayons offer a similar perk – the ability to color and draw on all colors of paper and still achieve the vibrant color. Pick up a box of 16 here.
Beeswax
These are generally chunkier and they deliver more vibrant color with less pressure. They’re perfect for tilting on the side to do rubbings, and they do beautifully over dark paper. They’re also wonderful for younger kids because they won’t get as frustrated when they are coloring yellow and they can barely see it and it looks like off-white rather than lemon.
Ooly and Faber Castell both make a beautiful set of beeswax crayons, and one huge perk of both is the shape – slightly triangular so they aren’t rolling off the table when you aren’t looking.
Ooly is hit or miss on Amazon, so you might want to purchase directly from their website here.
Faber Castell’s are a little pricier, but deliver on quality, and they come in a convenient plastic carrying case. Grab their set of 24 here.
See Them in Action
I put four of the five to the test (Crayola Pearl is similar to the Construction Paper crayons). How did lighter colors perform on light paper, and on dark paper? I threw in traditional Crayola crayons for a baseline.
You can see how much more vibrant the beeswax crayons are than Crayola, and they hold their own on the dark paper.
In conclusion, don’t forget that different varieties of art supplies can make all the difference to a child’s art time. And these childhood favorite offer an array of colors, mess-free art making, and inexpensive ways to color a child’s world. And anything that gets a kid (or adult) creating? That’s a huge crayon-tastic win.
Head here to have fun with FREE art projects that use crayons.
