If you have kids, you have been to the Crayola Experience. If you have kids and you haven't been yet, you are behind schedule. This sixty five thousand square foot temple of creativity sits at 30 Centre Square in downtown Easton, and it is the only place in the world where you can experience the full magic of Crayola up close.
Four Floors of Everything
The Crayola Experience occupies four floors and includes twenty eight hands on activities designed to make kids (and, let's be honest, adults) create, play, and get thoroughly messy. You can name and wrap your own crayon, choosing from millions of possible names. You can mold Model Magic creatures that become animated characters in digital episodes. You can drip melted wax into swirling art. There is an eighty five foot water table. There is a two story crayon themed playground.
The live theater show is surprisingly good. Digital art activities let kids draw on screens and see their creations projected on walls. And there are stations where you just sit down with a massive box of crayons and color, which turns out to be the most zen activity in the building.
The Details
Plan for three to four hours. Seriously. Kids will not want to leave, and there is enough to do that you won't run out of activities. The building is open Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM, Saturday until 6 PM, and Sunday until 5 PM. Weekday mornings are the sweet spot for smaller crowds.
The gift shop at the end is enormous and stocked with every Crayola product imaginable. Budget accordingly, because your children will see things they did not know existed and will suddenly need all of them.
Downtown Easton
One of the best things about the Crayola Experience is its location. Downtown Easton has become a vibrant destination with great restaurants, the Easton Public Market, and the historic Easton Farmers' Market just steps away. Smart families make a day of it: Crayola in the morning, lunch at the Public Market, maybe a walk along the river or a stop at one of the shops on Northampton Street.
The combination of the Crayola Experience and downtown Easton's food and shopping makes it one of the best family day trips in the Lehigh Valley, which is why the parking garages fill up on Saturdays.
Not Just for Little Kids
The Crayola Experience is designed for children, but there is a surprising amount for older kids and adults to enjoy. The art activities are genuinely creative, not just busy work. The melted wax stations produce real art pieces you can take home. And the nostalgia factor for adults who grew up with the 64 box and the built in sharpener is real.
Grandparents, in particular, seem to love the place. Something about watching a grandchild name their own crayon while standing in a building dedicated to the simple act of coloring hits different when you're seventy.
The Crayola Experience is one of the Lehigh Valley's signature attractions, and for good reason. It takes something universal, the joy of creating with color, and builds an entire world around it. You don't need to be artistic to have a great time. You just need to be willing to pick up a crayon.
