Crayola launches Campaign for Creativity with innovative and imaginative activities

EASTON, Pa. — One of the biggest bastions of American childhood is launching a new campaign to promote creativity by taking a look into the past.

Crayola announced last week it will unlock a “time capsule of creativity” containing one of the world’s largest collections of children’s art.

And — hopefully with the public's help — it will reunite the original pieces with their creators after decades.

The promotion is just one part of Crayola’s Campaign for Creativity, which the company said "challenges conventional perceptions about creativity, igniting a new dialogue about the value of creativity and helping parents integrate more creative moments into their children’s lives.”

According to the crayon-making company, the event was scheduled to happen just before the U.N. World Creativity and Innovation Day, and 40 years after Crayola began collecting kids’ artwork.

Crayola said it soon will release a series of short films, titled “Stay Creative,” featuring the stories of three adults across the country who participated in the art program as children.

As the artists are reintroduced to their crafts decades later, they reflect on how creativity affected their lives, and the importance of nurturing the same creative nature in the next generation.

“These films capture just a few of the stories we’ve encountered that bring to life the enduring value of childhood creativity," Crayola Executive Vice President of Marketing Victoria Lozano said.

"They also illustrate the pivotal role parents have in helping their children develop lifelong creative mindsets essential for whatever path they take in life.

“Through the Campaign for Creativity, Crayola not only hopes to encourage and help facilitate this dialogue, but also assist in providing the right creative resources and inspiration parents need to help all children reach their full potential."

Artwork creators are sought

To help connect artists with their original works, Crayola is asking the public for assistance in pairing 50 additional pieces of art with the creators.

Crayola soon will release artwork images on its social channels to facilitate “more heartfelt reunions and conversations about creativity,” the company said.

And the company said this is only the first wave of what it hopes will be the return of all 1,000 pieces of art remaining in the archives.

Those interested in helping out can find more information via the Crayola website.

A study on creativity

In a partnership with Ad Council Research Institute, Crayola also is studying parents’ perceptions on creativity to help with the project.

The research analyzed knowledge, attitudes and behaviors on creativity and how parents view its importance for their children, a news release stated.

Study results showed nine out of 10 parents said creativity is important for their kids, and encouraging children to use their imagination, explore different possibilities and express themselves authentically is essential for development and learning.

However, the study also showed parents sometimes need help overcoming barriers to make creative moments part of their everyday routines.

Results showed more than 60% of parents don’t think their children get enough creative activity or aren’t sure if they do and 53% believe they need to be creative themselves to raise creative kids.

An additional 21% said they are not sure; 33% struggle balancing creative moments with too many other things that compete for time throughout the day; and 29% have difficulty coming up with new creative activities.

“We’re pleased to partner with Crayola to help study not only how parents perceive creativity but also to support their efforts to advance awareness of the long-lasting impact creative moments have on children and society,” Managing Director of Ad Council Research Institute Derrick Feldmann said.

“There is a great opportunity to educate and empower them to practice it with their children.”

Coloring a world of creativity

Crayola Experience provides plenty of creative moments for families.

According to Lozano, fostering creativity has been the core vision Crayola since its founding 120 years ago — a vision carried on by Easton’s Crayola Experience.

“We've always known and believe that creativity matters, and it's really important to helping kids reach their full potential,” Lozano said.

“Helping create those creative experiences, those creative moments is really, really powerful, and Crayola Experience is really a manifestation of that longstanding belief.

"Because what that enables us to do is to help kids and the entire family have a really positive, engaging, exciting, hands-on creative experience.”

Lozano said she understands that facilitating such an atmosphere can be incredibly difficult as a parent in everyday life, but when a family gets an opportunity to engage in a visit to Crayola Experience, it opens up a world of possibilities.

“When you’re at Crayola Experience, you're able to set those things aside, and you immerse yourself in creativity, and help make wonderful family memories as you do that in the process.”

Not just crayons and markers

Crayola Experience in Easton’s Centre Square is not just crayons and markers, Lozano said.

“It’s the range of technology, it’s the hands-on versus the physical versus the digital," she said.

“It was really a core vision of for Crayola Experience is to have a meaningful range of creative experiences, so that you felt like you have a lot of different creative experiences.

"You can do a lot of different things, and then when you return like a lot of people do, you can have a little bit of a different experience, because maybe you have a different activity or you spend more time in certain areas than others."

It also serves as a great place for young children to build confidence, Lozano said, showcasing “what they feel, how they think, and what they create.”

“We just think it's a really powerful creative moment that hopefully ultimately leads to more creative moments, whether it's through a visit to Crayola Experience or things that families can then do at home,” Lozano said.

Crayola Experience is just one part of the mission to continue promoting creativity, Lozano said, “and at the end of the day, we really hope parents, adults and caregivers will join us in that conversation.”

“And it's not just us as a brand. It's because there's a tremendous amount of evidence and data on just how important it is for kids,” Lozano said.

“The more we talk about it, the more we share the message, the better. I think we help make things for kids and help them develop creativity as a life skill. And I just think that's so important.”