How To Celebrate National Crayon Day

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links.

As you prepare your activity calendars for March, I hope you’ll include National Crayon Day on March 31. While the concept of crayons originated a few centuries ago, what we know as modern crayons dates back to 1903. And, humans have celebrated National Crayon Day since at least 2006.

Does National Crayon Day sound like an event only children can enjoy? Think again! It’s an excellent opportunity to transport your residents back to happy childhood memories. (Do you remember the scent of a freshly opened box of new crayons on your first day of school?)

These are my favorite activities for National Crayon Day. I hope you’ll share your ideas in the comment section!

Learn Something New

1.  Begin your activity by introducing your residents to these fascinating facts about crayons.

2.  Did you know that Crayola periodically retires crayon colors? You can learn all about retired colors in this article from Trivia Genius.

3.  Crayola has come up with many unusual crayon names over the years. Your residents will get a kick out of this list of unique crayon color names. If you have access to a 64-pack of crayons, pull out some of the more unusual colors and ask your residents to come up with creative names for them.

Dress The Part

I love getting staff involved in resident activities. On National Crayon Day, you can invite residents, staff, and volunteers to dress in bright primary colors.

For even more fun, host a contest for employees to come up with the best crayon costumes. You can find lots of easy and inexpensive ideas on Pinterest.

Have A Good Laugh

Since laughter is the best medicine, your residents will enjoy a few silly crayon jokes.

• Which crayon is in charge of answering the phone?  Yellow?
• Why did the student throw crayons at her teacher?  She wanted to pass with flying colors.
• Where does a crayon go on vacation?  Color-ado
• Why did the woman bring a pack of crayons to the living room?  To draw the curtains.
• Why was the crayon crying?   He was feeling blue.
• Why did the nurse bring a red crayon to work?  In case she needed to draw blood.

Generate Friendly Competition

Host a coloring contest for the children of your staff. (Include grandchildren, godchildren, nieces/nephews, etc. so nobody gets left out.) Divide the entries according to age group and recruit a team of residents to serve as judges.

It’s even more fun to host a coloring contest for your staff. Categories might include the most creative, most colorful, and funniest. Of course, you’ll want to offer prizes donated by local businesses.

Get Artsy

• Nearly every home has a few broken crayons tucked away somewhere. Begin now to let staff and volunteers know about National Crayon Day and ask them to donate their old crayons. Check out all these creative crafts to make with broken crayons.
• Pass out crayons and pictures for your residents to color. You can find lots of free printable coloring pages for adults on crayola.com. Do some of your residents balk at the idea of coloring, believing it’s only for children? Then you’ll want to share this article about the many benefits of coloring from WebMD.
• When you’re done coloring, you can transform your masterpieces into gorgeous crafts. Check out these 29 ways to repurpose coloring pages.

Share A Snack

Serve your residents a colorful snack on National Crayon Day. This could be something you make in advance, as you can use it as a group cooking activity. Check out a few of my favorites:

Poke cake

Colorful cookies

Fruit pizza

While residents enjoy their snacks, you can show them a video about how crayons are made. It’s quite a fascinating process!

“We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box.” (Robert Fulghum)