Crayons are amazing art supplies. We’ve pulled together easy crayon Bible art lessons and ideas for all ages to inspire heARTs with God and add color to your creativity. You will also find interesting facts about crayons and why they do not all leave the same mark. *Post contains affiliate links.
For many years, Crayons have been inspiring people of all ages. Who doesn’t get excited over a box of fresh unopened crayons?
But crayons are not just for kids!
The coloring book trend for adults has increased through the years in great numbers. You can find a coloring book in just about any subject, theme or design that you like!
Crayons are usually the first art supply a child experiences and they make lasting impressions to those sweet faces. There’s joy in seeing a crayon color marking on paper and doing what it was created to do.
This is why we love using crayons to help kids remember the Lord in Bible Art lessons. We also love creating and finding Bible verse coloring pages and coloring books to add heART to our art.
The word crayon can mean, “mark of the earth”, which could be just about anything that you can use to make a mark.
Dirt, charcoal, rocks, leaves, sticks and… you get the idea. Anything you can rub against a surface and leave a mark behind can actually be considered a crayon.
Actually, crayons as we know them, were originally invented as an easier and less messy way for kids to create art. They are still doing that today and so much more!
You will find crayons in fun shapes and sizes for all ages to use in coloring books or printables. But you will also find other ways crayons can be used in art such as grating, melting, and candles.
Do you remember your first box of crayons? Oh how we used to dream of the box with the built in sharpener!
Crayons are made with a mixture of wax and pigment. The journey a crayon takes to be made is a wonder to watch. We’ve included a video below.
We get pigments from nature. So rocks, clay and all the organics where we find color, can be dried, crushed, cooked or molded into a pigment and then mixed with wax forming a crayon.
Most people associate the word crayon as only the amazing brand Crayola as a crayon. Don’t get us wrong, we are big Crayola fans, but crayon is its own entity and can be made by other companies.
Mr. Rogers always shared the most informative, behind the scenes videos, on his television show. One that made a big “mark” on our minds was the video of how crayons were made. We could watch that video on loop it’s so satisfying
It’s super handy to know what crayons are made of so that when those little sweet faces leave their mark on your walls, you can know how to remove them.
Magic erasers work well on flat sheetrock walls. Reheating the wax can also help remove crayon marks such as a hair dryer on some surfaces. But you can also use a solvent that cuts wax residue.
Well that seems common sense right? You pick up a crayon and move it across your paper. Boom you’re coloring with crayons.
But that does not mean you will have a great coloring experience or that the results will be beautifully colored. Why is it that sometimes a crayon does not produce the color you want or it leaves behind splotchy waxy color? 3 reasons:
When you move a wax crayon across a surface, the friction and texture of the surface will allow the wax to disperse the pigment. A rough or bumpy surface will catch more of the color to the “mountains” of the surface.
Even though paper can appear smooth, there is actually a texture that crayons can reveal. That is why you can find coloring books in various papers from recycled to a slick smooth surface.
The paper and type of crayon can make your coloring experience fun or frustrating to many coloring fanatics.
Each crayon maker has a recipe they use to create the colorful coloring sticks we use. More wax in the recipe will cause a build up on the paper that can be splotchy. A child wanting a smooth and neat artwork of color will find that frustrating.
There is a definite difference in the coloring results depending on which crayon brand used and their recipe.
Why?
It’s the same as why one chocolate chip cookie tastes different from another chocolate chip cookie using the same ingredients. The amount of each ingredient used in the recipe changes the result!
You can only layer so much waxy color before the crayon will no longer distribute the color. The wax only allows for layering in small amounts.
When a crayon is too waxy it distributes more wax than color.
It layers that wax and creates a surface that a crayon eventually finds too smooth and will no longer actually color you paper. Instead, it builds up a wax residue on your paper that isn’t pretty.
If a company uses a paraffin wax or beeswax it will change the feel of the coloing motion and the amount of wax distributed. The mount of pigment mixed into the wax and what kind of pigment is used will change the coloring result and amount of color viewed.
Crayola knows how to make the best crayon. The recipe they use is smooth and just enough wax to hold your “marking stick” together without building up too much wax on your paper.
We’ve tried other brands that are less expensive, fun shapes, or different colors. Depending on their recipe, you will find a difference in the color experience and the mark they leave behind.
Pressed paper and sometimes (unfortunately) many painted home walls have a little texture that is a crayon’s friend. You’ve probably experienced a crayon colored wall with frustration, but to a kiddo walls are perfect coloring canvas because they are perfect coloring surfaces. Okay, maybe not perfect, but they do accept color perfectly.
The best way to use a crayon is coloring books made specifically for color disbursement. Some use recycled paper that is off white in color. Test your crayons on different papers to see which you like best.
Help younger kids color with the crayons with slow, close together in one direction strokes.
Download our KJV & ESV Crayon Bible Verse Coloring Pages to help you remember God’s Word. If you enjoy them, drop into our Freebie Library where we have more!
One of the problems we see with kids coloring with crayons is inconsistent strokes. Many tend to scribble the color quickly in an erratic all over the place method rather than controlled coloring.
We like to tell kids to practice moving the crayon strokes slowly and close together in small areas at a time.
“Slow slow close together. Slow slow close together.”
Use small amounts of pressure for light color effects and either layer to darken the color or apply more pressure.
You can always add more color, but it’s hard to take it away once it is applied.
When our children were younger, sometimes we would use coloring with crayons as a way to help them stay focused during read aloud times. If we were studying a subject such as the American Revolution, we had coloring books that illustrated what we were reading.
Coloring is a great way to entertain kiddos when they need to be quiet. At the doctors office, on a rainy day, when you need them to settle down are wonderful times to color.
Crayons are an amazing art therapy tool to help children and adults manage stress, emotions and the inability to concentrate.
Crayons are also economically friendly, so larger gatherings of kids needing something to do is a great time to whip out the coloring pages.
God has given His people the commandment to love others and leave a mark on this world that points back to Him. That’s the purpose of a Christian. Jesus gave the words now known as the Great Commission to His followers.
Matthew 28:19-20
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway*, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
And Mark 16:15
And he said unto them,Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Go into all nations means to all the world, to all people and to all colors. The “Go” also means for all colors, all nations and all people who follow Jesus to “go” and leave His mark on all the world.
Crayons come in many different colors, shapes and sizes. But they all leave color behind everywhere they mark.
People come in many different shapes and sizes. What kind of world would it be if we were all the same color?
We can leave a mark behind that is also full of that glorious color God has given us.
Even broken and naked crayons can serve a purpose and leave a mark.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made by a creative God who knows all of you. Every part of your color, shape and size is part of His artistry.
You are not like anyone else because you are unique. That means you will not leave the same mark on the world.
Nor will you think or create the same art as anyone else.
Use your unique “coloring and making a mark on the world” ability to color the world for Christ.
How will you leave a mark for Jesus in this world?
● Color Bible verse coloring pages
● Color Bible story coloring books
● Illustrate Bible verses and color them
● Draw and color Bible stories as your read them. (Creation, Noah’s rainbow, Joseph’s coat of many colors to name a few”
● Subscribe to our Free Bible Story Timeline of the Bible for a way to study and color in chronological order. Also in our ReMEMBERers you will find coloring pages and worksheets to go along with the timeline.
Visit our Freebie Library for Bible verse coloring page, worksheets and printables to help you forget not the Lord!
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Because crayons are made of wax and pigment, they react to heat by melting. Don’t throw away those broken or naked crayons! Create new art. The possibilities to move the wax are fun to explore! Pinterest Board
Our favorite educational coloring books are from Dover Publishing. They have more subjects than we could ever list. For the best shopping experience, type in the subject or theme you are studying followed by “Dover Coloring Book” in your search field. Here’s some we know kids enjoy. Below are some of our favorites, but you can find your favs here.
Discover how we love combining 2 of our favorites to teach Art using the Bible and Bible using Art. This post is filled with how creativity is a God given gift we all have and can use to glorify Him in many ways.
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Our desire is sharing God’s Word and love through creative resources for all learning styles.
