BALTIMORE, Md. -- November 12, 2002 -- Virtually every child has a collection of them -- hundreds of Crayola crayon pieces (about 730 by the time a child turns 10) that left the comforts of the 64 box for a sneaker box loaded with well-used colors now back-ups to brand new hues. So what do you call those armies of cadet blues, bushels of granny smith apple slices and every crayon nub too small for sharpening?
Colorers entered more than 15,000 names into the Crayola "Dub the Nub" contest -- a nationwide search for the most colorful name to describe all those leftover crayon pieces. Suggestions "waxed" eloquent -- mini-me's, crayon crumbs and color nuggets to name a few.
The winning name was announced today at Crayola Works near Baltimore -- the first Crayola store of its kind that opened this year. Pre-school teacher Linda Eye of Millbury, Ohio, was honored for aptly dubbing the petit pieces... "leftolas." Santa's arriving early for Eye, as she was awarded a new Crayola Crayon Maker, named "Best Toy for '02" by Child, Nick, Jr. and Parents magazines, and $100 in Crayola products.
New Life for Leftolas
Moms asked the Crayola company what their kids can do with all those worn-down wax bits and they came up with a colorful solution. The little laser lemon nubs and burnt sienna bits kids stockpile can now regain their full-size status with the Crayola Crayon Maker � a new toy that melts down leftolas and molds them into new Crayolas. Kids can make their favorite colors or they can create new hues by melting different colored pieces together into a swirly liquid that makes multi-colored crayons. In about 20 minutes, kids have three new crayons they can get even more mileage from. (See the Crayola Crayon Maker in action at Toy Fair 2002.)
