"There are a lot of memories about crayons when you think about it," she said. "I remember the sharpener on the box was exciting."
And if the joy of coloring wasn't enough, she added, "We used to put them in the sun and melt them together, or I would hold them in my hand until they got warm and bend them."
At the preschool, kids color every day, Teverzio said.
"It is an activity that is available for them at free play at all times," she said. "Crayons are very important because they let kids use their imagination and show creativity. They can draw pictures to express emotions."
While Crayola crayons have been around for 105 years, this year is the 50th anniversary of its famous box of 64 colors, which was originally introduced on the children's show, "Captain Kangaroo" in 1958. Kids went from a standard box of eight crayons to a rainbow of choices. The original 1903 box contained only black, blue, brown, green, red, yellow, orange and violet. This year eight new colors have been added to its line, said Crayola spokeswoman Susan Tucker.
"Kids picked what they thought would be the hot colors for the year," she said. "They voted to change the names of pre-existing shades on the Web site bonus.com.
"Crayola
"A shade of yellow has been re-named 'Super Happy' because children want to live by the adage 'Don't worry, be happy,' " she said. Since children love to be outdoors, a florescent orange color was named "Fun in the Sun."
Children are also starting to think of the environment, said Tucker.
"The children voted on a green shade," she said. "Thinking of helping the planet, they named it 'Giving Tree.' "
The anniversary box features a birthday cake on the front with a new, improved built-in sharpener that replicates the original shape of the crayon once sharpened instead of changing it into a broken mess.
Just as the crayon can create images of princesses, dungeons and dragons and elaborate scenarios taken from a child's mind, another granddaddy among toys allows children to build according to their imagination.
Lego started in Denmark and has a U.S. corporate headquarters in Enfield. One would not recognize the original Lego — the building blocks were originally made of wood for the first 26 years. This year Lego is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the plastic brick as we know it today. The celebration includes a building contest and a special 50th anniversary set that retails for $39.99.
"The set launched July 1," said Julie Stern, U.S. spokeswoman for Lego. "It is a 700-piece set with a limited edition gold brick in each box. The box is also interesting because it showcases ads from the past 50 years."
One great thing about the Lego brick, said Stern, is that the design is exactly the same as it was 50 years ago. A child could use their set and their parents' together seamlessly. Another plus for this year is the pink building box geared more toward girls with more feminine colors and instructions.
"Lego has made a lot of inroads in that," said Wendy Smolen, editor of Toy Wishes Magazine. "They do try to promote Lego as gender-neutral. As girls grow more adept in engineering and building, they play more with Legos."
Other milestone years for toys include: Easy Bake Oven, which turns 45, Scrabble, a whopping 60 years old, and Trivial Pursuit, which just celebrated a 25th anniversary.
Bob Friedland, spokesman for Toys R Us, said all these playthings still sell very well.
"These are classic brands," said Friedland. "Lego is still a great brand. We sell it in a lot of our stores. "These toys cross into every aspect of childhood," said Friedland. "You find girls and boys playing with all of these items. These are all toys parents remember playing with and pass on to their kids. Customers still look for them."
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