Crayon is a stick of colored wax shaped like a short pencil. Colored pencils, colored chalk, and pastels (sticks made of a chalky paste) are sometimes called crayons. This article discusses wax crayons.
Children use crayons to create bright, colorful drawings. Crayons are often a child’s first drawing tool. Artists sometimes use crayons to add texture to their works, by melting the wax or by other techniques.
To make crayons, manufacturers add natural or synthetic pigments (coloring materials) to heated wax. The mixture is then poured into molds. After the crayons harden, they are wrapped in paper.
No one knows exactly when wax crayons were invented, but they were used in Europe by the 1700’s. Crayons were first made in the United States by Binney & Smith, Inc. (now Crayola L.L.C.) in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1903.
See also Pencil (Colored pencils).
