And we've been dying to try out the new Crayola Experience since we saw one last year at the Mall of America and decided not to go.
So we jumped at the chance to try out the new location in Plano!
First things first:
-Crayola Experience opened at the Shops at Willowbend earlier this year. It is 60,000 square feet of colorful fun!
-Crayola has 22 hands-on attractions.
-Season passes pay for themselves in just two visits!
The girls popped Freaky Friday into the DVD player yesterday and we made the trek to Plano. Crayola Experience is about 40 miles from my house in southwest Arlington, and it took us a little less than an hour to get there (so worth it).
After walking into Crayola, my first thought was: this place is HUGE. I mean, duh, I can read. 60,000 square feet. That's big! But I don't think I realized just how big that actually is.
When you walk in you are handed a bag to hold all of your colorful creations that contains two silver coins you can redeem for a single crayon or Model Magic Clay (we redeemed our coins at the end, so the girls could leave with a souvenir for the car. If you choose Model Magic, they do have lots of fun accessories to use with the clay!) Choices, choices!
But really, where should I begin?
My girls started by sitting at a coloring table and colored a few quick pictures. They loved popping next door to the coloring table to a feature called "Be A Star" and making their own coloring sheets! You smile for a picture and the machine turns the photo in to a coloring sheet for you to bring home (or color there). My middle daughter loved coloring herself!
There are three stations where kiddos are able to see wax crayons start in their stick form and melt into other creations. One station- Melt & Mold- allows you to pick a color and watch it melt down into a mold the shape of a race car or ring- designers choice! Another station allows you to create Drip Art with two crayons. You feed each into the meltdown machine and watch the melting wax drop down onto the paper as you spin it quickly around catching drips. A third, Meltdown, allows you to feed a crayon into a larger pen-like object and write messages in melting wax! (don't worry- kiddos never come into contact with the hot wax or any of the heating coils- these activities are completely safe!) We did have to wait in line for all three of these activities. Many of the machines in each grouping weren't working properly, unfortunately. The longest we waited was 15 minutes to melt a crayon into the shape of a ring.
There were several interactive stations that allowed kiddos to make funky videos and pictures and then email them to friends and family. A Selfie Spot allows kids to assemble funny accessories to their choosing and then take a photo that superimposes the silly accessories onto their faces! A second interactive station, called Kaleidoscope, encourages kids to dance around for 15 seconds while their dancing bodies are distorted into a kaleidoscope, and then the video can be emailed off to family. My girls loved both!
In the center of the Crayola are two climbing areas- one large one for big kids and a smaller Toddler Town for kiddos 4 and under. There is also a large chalk "town" (called Scribble Town) where kiddos can draw, write and create with chalk on the structures.
My girls also loved the Adventure Lab, where you grab a tablet and then following the prompts on the tablet to solve a few colorful mysteries inside the lab. While my youngest (age 4) struggled a bit, my older two (6 and 8) loved solving the problems and didn't need any assistance. My youngest really enjoyed the You Design activity, where she colored in a model in a dress and then scanned it and watched the girl walk around in the dress she colored on the large screen. (This is similar to the dinosaur color and animate at the Fort Worth Science Museum, if you've been to see that!)
In the middle of Crayola are large stations with rotating coloring activities, as well. Yesterday, my girls got to color and create "VIP passes" to a concert!
There is a store at the exit for your kids to beg for all kinds of things they don't really need. Wait, I mean, there is a store at the exit to buy tons of cute, colorful souvenirs!
We spent more than four hours at Crayola yesterday. Four hours! We easily could have stayed several more- my girls were that content. There were just so many stations and activities that the girls constantly had something to entertain them.
I highly recommend Crayola for kids ages 1-10. There are lots and lots of fun activities for toddlers-plus kids 3 and under are free! Between the toddler area and the coloring stations, as well as the stomp and play feature on the floor kids can dance on, little will be entertained for hours! On the older end, I'd say Crayola wouldn't be super entertaining to kids over about the age of 10. My oldest is almost nine, and she had lots of fun, but not like my younger two did!
Here are my tips for a great trip:
-Bring the stroller or baby carrier for little ones. This place is huge and has plenty of space to maneuver strollers when kids get tired.
-Buy the season pass. Seriously. If you go twice in one year you've saved money. And, if your kids are like mine, you'll want to go twice.
-Go later in the day if you can. Crayola is open 10-8. We arrived yesterday about 11:45. The place was pretty busy until about 3:30 when it really cleared out. When we left a bit after 4 there wasn't a wait for any of the activities and my girls had the run of the place!
-Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I received free entry to Crayola for my three girls and myself in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
