Successful Crayola Experience Visit with a Toddler and a Baby
Life with a toddler or preschooler becomes even more interesting when you throw a baby into the mix. Our two little girls are a blessing for sure, but sometimes it gets a little tricky navigating various attractions and activities with both in tow, like Crayola Experience!
Crayola Experience Fun for All Ages
Crayola Experience worked out great when my mom and sister came along. Other times, I was a little intimidated to do the trek to Crayola Factory (Easton PA) with the two littles by myself.
Until my youngest was a little older, at least! When none of my friends or family could join us, I still decided to take the girls one weekend while my husband was golfing.
It ended up being a really great, fun, and creative — but totally exhausting — day. Here’s everything I can share to help you have a successful trip!
Crayola Factory Easton is handicap accessible and designed well for strollers. The different areas all seem to have a choice of steps or ramp, or at least a nice, large elevator with windows, available to take visitors to all four floors.
We brought our hand-me-down stroller and loaded it up with our diaper bag, bottles of water, and my camera.
When you arrive and present your ticket or season pass, they give you a clear plastic bag. You can use this to tote around the art you make. It also comes with a few tokens to spend on Crayola Experience goodies.
The coins are redeemable for a personalized Crayola Crayon, a Crayola marker, or the Crayola Model Magic dough.
The bag has handles, which makes it perfect for hanging on the handle of your stroller if applicable, or a carabineer if not. We put all of our artwork in the bags, making our trip even more organized.
So Much to Love at Crayola Factory Easton PA
The Crayola art experience is second to none at the crayon factory. There are so many ways for your kids to be creative.
We really enjoyed all of the different activities, from the Meltdown and Melt & Mold on the top floor to the Water Works Crayon Boats on the third floor, and the Modeling Madness and Rockin Paper on the second floor.
And well, we actually skipped the gift shop this time around, but I’m sure my daughter would tell you she loves that too!
Last time we bought a new Barbie Color Wonder book and a couple packs of glitter and metallic crayons. All of those worked out pretty well.
Preschooler’s Favorite Crayola Art Activity
Natalie said her favorite Crayola art activity is the Meltdown, where you can use different shades of molten crayons and a bamboo stick to make your own artwork. I am pretty sure we spent about 40 minutes on this station alone.
It worked out especially well that they had benches there, as it was time for my youngest to eat and since she’s still nursing, I brought the nursing cover and fed her while Natalie made her artwork.
I had to stand a couple of times to keep a better eye on her when she went to a different color station, but it all worked out well and the baby didn’t seem to get as distracted as I thought she would with so many people.
I actually didn’t know this either of the two times that I’ve been there, but apparently the second floor has a dedicated nursing room as well as a family restroom.
The family restroom we did find, and it worked out well since regular ones are pretty tough with the stroller and two kids!
Top Floor at Crayola
On the top floor of Crayola Experience we also liked melting a crayon down into a little crayon man shape (you could also choose a ring or a dinosaur), and the Drip Art (think spin art with two melting crayons) craft station.
We had to wait in line the longest for this station, but my daughter seemed to really enjoy making her Drip Art.
Third Floor Experience
On the third floor, the Water Works Crayon Boats are one of my daughter’s favorite attractions. The neat thing is that the Crayola Experience Easton PA location pulls from the local history and culture, integrating locks like the Delaware Canal has, so your children can get a bit of an educational lesson as well.
There’s also a ginormous multi-level playground, which we conveniently skipped this time around since I knew I couldn’t handle the baby and my four-year-old.
Heaven forbid she got stuck up on the nets or decide not to come down at all just for the fun of it!
Crayola’s Second Floor
The second floor features a pretty great Toddler Town play area offering a nice break from the creative activities. Kids can just climb around a small playground and they can also play with a life-size Lite Brite style glow pegboard game.
A big, round crayon table called the Colossal Caddy sits nearby Toddler Town, with a few benches and seats for weary parents to take a rest.
It looks like hundreds of thousands of crayons are just waiting for kids to start coloring away. The coloring area also has coloring pages printed out for kids to color.
The Best Crayola Experience Attraction IMHO
As a parent, one of my favorite activities on this floor is the Be A Star station, which is essentially Crayola Experience’s coloring page photo booth.
You get your photo taken and it is printed out in black and white as a coloring book page – how cool is that?! It is one of my favorite free “souvenirs” from our trip to Crayola Factory when my sister was in town.
I also loved that the activities change periodically, which makes it easy to find new favorites every time you bring your kids to Crayola.
The first time when we went with my mom and sister, I enjoyed painting with watercolors with my youngest, who was only about 6 months old at the time.
This time, Natalie got to color a creature that then put on a dancing show. The lights, music, and magnetic effects were pretty clever, and kids loved seeing their creations come to life.
We did a bunch of other activities, probably too many to mention, but I’ve already shared my favorites that I think most if not all kids will enjoy. We made our last stop the Modeling Madness room before leaving for lunch.
Here you can sculpt and play with Crayola’s modeling marshmallow style clay compound in a variety of colors. The room has a lot of different tools you and your kids can use to create your own mini sculptures and works of art.
What Else to Expect at Crayola Factory
Depending when you go, Crayola Experience Easton PA may be packed or relatively empty. We went on a Monday the first time and it was busy, but not too busy.
This past time was a Saturday and it was about 90 degrees outside. The air conditioning felt great and we were happy to spend about three hours or so at the Crayola Factory.
The biggest challenge I ran into was keeping up with my older child while pushing the stroller. At one point I was carrying the baby and pushing the stroller and trying to catch up to Natalie before she got out of sight.
The other time I was on the elevator behind some people and my daughter dashed out on our intended floor but I had a hard time getting past all the people on the elevator before the doors closed. Thankfully I made it.
Other Things to Do Near Crayola Experience Easton PA
I totally forgot to mention we saw Scooby Doo when we first arrived, exiting the parking garage!
After our Crayola experiences, we skipped the Crayola Café and followed the advice on his t-shirt, heading out in search of delicious burgers and fries for lunch.
If you exit the building on the first floor out the back, there is a small courtyard with some cool crayon and marker sculptures where your kids can sit and play.
If you go to the corner and head left, you will find Cheeburger Cheeburger, a delightful burger shop in the style of a 50’s diner. (Now Out of Business!)
Dining out with kids can be a dicey experience, as I’m sure you are well aware. I found, from the moment I first set foot in the restaurant, that the service was extremely accommodating for families as well as adults.
The manager Shelly kindly rushed to get the door for me with my stroller and she sat us in the back to allow my sleeping baby to keep on snoozing.
Did I mention that the kids’ meals are absolutely adorable? Kids’ orders come out in a cardboard hot rod or classic car that holds the burger, sandwich, or whatever entree. The cars are totally awesome to keep young kids interested in sitting at the table as well as eating their food.
At one point when my four year old was starting to get cranky from missing her nap, the staff instantly worked to cheer her up. They brought her a second, different cardboard car that she could take home to use with her dolls and stuffed animals.
Well played, Cheeburger!
Here’s a link to my review now that the restaurant is closed. 🙁
Read Kate V.‘s review of Cheeburger Cheeburger on Yelp
Frozen Treats Near Crayola
Finally, the last thing we did before we went home was to grab a yummy treat at Frozenlandia. It is like a Kiwi Yogurt with a wall of soft-serve frozen yogurt, sorbet, and ice cream dispensers.
The best part is the topping bar! I opted for chocolate soft-serve ice cream and raspberry sorbet. Natalie wanted blue cotton candy flavor, cheesecake flavor, and one other flavor I can’t remember.
We added mini chocolate chips, gummy bears, and Italian rainbow cookies to our delightful ice cream treats.
We always look forward to a stop at Frozenlandia when we go to Crayola. (I’m pretty sure that is my reward for surviving a trip to a four-story attraction with two kids under age 5.)
Crayola Experience Coupons & Cost
My family decided not to use Crayola Experience coupons as we purchased the season pass instead. The cost to be able to visit again and again seemed extremely reasonable.
Here’s what I spent on a day at Crayola Factory Easton PA with my four-year-old and my infant:
- Parking at the Garage: $16.50
- Crayola Factory Admission: Free – already paid for season pass ($35 a piece) in May
- Lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger Easton: $24.35
- Frozen Treat at Frozenlandia: $8.01
- Grand Total: $48.86*
So, for less than $50, we got to enjoy a fun activity, lunch, and a delicious frozen treat. Now, remember, we bought the season passes back in the springtime, so our trips now cost only what we spend in parking and food.
*This cost may not be typical since my daughter and I both have a season’s pass. Luckily my youngest daughter will be free till age three, so that is awesome!
Even if we had to pay for admission, it was $16.99 per person. So, our tab would still be well under $100 for the day. That’s a really good deal if you ask me!
If you are planning a trip to Crayola Factory, consider all the options. Is it feasible to go back as a season pass holder or if you’re just looking to visit this once.
Saving Money at Crayola Experience
If you are looking for a Crayola Experience discount or coupons to help you save a little money on admission, try these links:
- Crayola Experience Groupon – At the most recent update to this post, you could get single-day admission for 33% off at $17.50.
- Entertainment Book (Ours had a $4 off coupon)
Even if you don’t have a Crayola Experience coupon, the admission is still fairly inexpensive at $16.99. Considering you have four floors of arts and crafts activities and adventures to enjoy, this is a good deal.
For more information on visiting the Crayola factory, check out the website for Crayola Experience Easton.
