There has always been something magical about a brand new box of Crayola crayons. The perfect points in a variety of beautiful colors, just sitting in the box, waiting for you to pull them out and unleash your creativity. That is how the beginning of each school year starts: a blank slate, ready for all the great things your children will learn that year. Will this be the year they discover their love of outer space, learn how to find the perimeter of an object, master counting to 100, or win the spelling bee? We never know what each school year will bring, but the one thing we can rely on is that Crayola will be there.
This year started off no differently than any other school year: with a backpack full of new crayons, markers, pencils, notebooks and binders, and a world of possibilities ahead of each student. Then in March, our lives changed. We no longer watched as our son or daughter climbed up the steps to board the school bus each morning. Instead, parents found themselves trying to balance checklists of their children's school work with their own work, everyone sharing the same space, as words and phrases like "quarantine", "pandemic", "economic impact", and "unprecedented times" became common terms around the dinner table.
But very quickly, families began to look at this situation as an opportunity. It was a time to slow down and enjoy each other's company, explore new hobbies and interests at home, and discover the fun that can literally be had right in our own backyards. And now, as we are approaching the end of the school year, it is a time for celebration. The end of the school year may be different than what we envisioned, but there's still a reason to celebrate accomplishments and milestones, graduating from grade levels, and successfully learning at home. And once again, I found myself turning to Crayola to make our celebrations colorful and creative!
In August I had a daughter beginning her freshman year of college and two sons starting 12th and 4th grades. Now, I still can't believe I have 2 kids who will be in college next year and a son who will be in his last year of elementary school. That called for big celebrations all around!
Check out all the fun we had celebrating the end of the school year with Crayola:
Tape resist art was easy using washi tape and Crayola Paintbrush Pens. They are washable and dry almost instantly! | We used white construction paper and various Crayola markers, colored pencils, and crayons to make signs and decorations. | The free coloring pages on Crayola's website were a big hit with all my kids. Download your own Last Day of School or Class of 2020 printables. |
Making suncatchers with my daughter reminded me of when she was little. Using construction paper, waxed paper, Crayola crayon shavings, and the heat of an iron, we were able to create these pretty decorations. | Thank you cards and paper confetti were created using construction paper and Crayola crayons, markers and colored pencils. To make the confetti, we colored small triangles of paper, rolled them up from big end to small end around a pencil, and glued the end. | My son is a senior, and he was on his high school track and cross country teams, so we found a great way to celebrate the end of his high school career. He ran through and crossed the finish line that we made using Crayola XL Poster Markers. |
We'd love to see how you're celebrating the end of the school year at home with Crayola, too! Share your creations by posting on social media and use the hashtags #CelebrateColorfully.
*I was compensated for the purpose of this review, but all the opinions are my own.
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Macaroni Kid South Birmingham is a free weekly e-newsletter and website focused on fun family events and things to do with kids in the South Birmingham region. We gather together all kinds of local family events and activities each week, and add useful information about classes, family-focused businesses, book and product reviews, recipes, crafts, school and camp guides and more. We proudly serve families in downtown Birmingham, Mountain Brook, Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Pelham, the Oak Mountain and 280 area, Helena and Alabaster.