There’s so much in the news right now, you might have missed that today is International Diversity Day. (Not that every day shouldn’t be International Diversity Day but that’s another story.) Which makes this the perfect day for Crayola to announce their new line of Crayola Colors of the World crayons, available for pre-order now, which includes a veritable rainbow of 24 skin-tone crayons. What a massive evolution from that sole “flesh” crayon some of us grew up with.
(We’re glad that one was phased out years ago.)
The line of crayons means more kids can more accurately create drawings of family, friends, and, of course, themselves. Because of course, all the beautiful skin colors around the world — or even around your own town, if you’re lucky — can’t accurately be captured with only “peach,” “tan,” and “brown.”
I love that kids who may have never been able to get the right shade of brown to match their darker-skinned mom, or their sister’s pinkish sun-kissed skin, or even their own unique color, can now see everyone represented in this beautifully diverse box of crayons. And as we say all the time, representation matters.
One cool detail: The Colors of the World crayons were developed with the help of MAC Cosmetics’ former chief chemist, who used his background creating foundation shades to guide this new line of crayons. So I really I appreciate the work Crayola did to get the colors right. I mean, just look at these shades!
The way I see it, coloring people just got 24 times more interesting. And of course with the rest of their crayons, kids can still make purple people and green people and silver people too.
Related: This Is How We Do It: The fabulous new book that teaches kids empathy while celebrating diversity.
The one thing that hasn’t changed though: Each box will still have that wonderful “new box of crayons” smell that I’ve been obsessed with my whole life.
Crayola’s new Colors of the World Crayons are scheduled to be available in July. Simply enter your email on the pop up that appears on the 24-count box to be notified when they for sale online.
