Crayola has launched the Campaign for Creativity, 40 years after the company started collecting kids’ artwork. The campaign aims to challenge typical perspectives on creativity and start a new conversation about the value of creativity, ultimately helping guardians integrate more creative moments and ideas into kids’ lives.
During the campaign, Crayola is reuniting adults with the artwork they created as kids. Launched ahead of the UN World Creativity and Innovation Day on April 21, it will include a series of short films titled Stay Creative. The films features three adults who participated in the Crayola art program as kids. They are reunited with their creations and discuss creativity in their lives and how they nurture creativity in their kids’ lives.
“These films capture just a few of the stories we’ve encountered that bring to life the enduring value of childhood creativity. They also illustrate the pivotal role parents have in helping their children develop lifelong creative mindsets essential for whatever path they take in life,” says Victoria Lozano, Executive Vice President, Marketing at Crayola. “Through the Campaign for Creativity, Crayola not only hopes to encourage and help facilitate this dialogue, but also assist in providing the right creative resources and inspiration parents need to help all children reach their full potential.”
As part of the Stay Creative initiative, Crayola hopes that the public can help reunite 50 pieces of artwork with their rightful owners. Crayola will release images of the art on social media with a goal of creating more heartfelt reuinions and discussions concerning the value of creativity. The 50 pieces are part of the first wave, as Crayola hopes to return all 1,000 pieces of art stored in the archives of what was once the largest collection of kids artwork.
The campaign is supported by research as Crayola partnered with the Ad Council Research Institute for a study on parents’ views on creativity. The study analyzed attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors on creativity and how parents feel about its importance in their kids lives.
According to the study, 9 in 10 parents feel that creativity and encouraging kids to use their imagination, explore, and express themselves authentically is important and essential for development and learning. However, the study showed that parents need help implementing creative moments into their daily routine — more than 60% of participants don’t think (or aren’t sure) that their kids get enough creativity. In addition, 53% believe they need to be creative to raise creative kids, and 21% aren’t sure.
“We’re pleased to partner with Crayola to help study not only how parents perceive creativity but also to support their efforts to advance awareness of the long-lasting impact creative moments have on children and society,” says Derrick Feldmann, Managing Director, Ad Council Research Institute. “There is a great opportunity to educate and empower them to practice it with their children.”
The study also revealed that 33% of participants struggle to balance creative moments with other things that require time in the day, and 29% have difficulty coming up with creative activities. Crayola has worked to inspire creativity in kids for more than 120 years and can help incorporate these creative moments, which have been shown to help develop core life skills, boost education attainment, predict career achievement, and support well-being and fulfillment.
“Our research showed that sparking creative moments at home can make a significant difference in helping children develop creativity as a critical life skill,” Lozano says. “We believe the value of shared creative moments between parent and child, of putting imagination into action, is an important conversation to have with parents and one that Crayola can genuinely lead.”
For more information and resources, visit crayola.com.
