📝 This post, The Day the Crayons Quit Activities, was originally published in 2015 and has been updated with new information and resources.
The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt are two of the most popular picture books you’ll find in elementary classrooms—and for good reason! Kids love the crayons’ hilarious personalities, and the stories inspire wonderfully creative writing activities. If you’re looking for engaging read-aloud extensions, these books are a great place to start.
About the Books
The Day the Crayons Quit tells the story of Duncan, who opens his box of crayons one day only to discover a stack of letters. Each crayon has a different complaint. Red is exhausted from coloring every holiday, Beige is tired of being called “dark tan,” and Blue is worn down to a tiny stub from coloring oceans and skies. All Duncan wants to do is color, so he comes up with a creative solution to make every crayon happy.
The Day the Crayons Came Home is the hilarious sequel, and if your students enjoyed the first book, they’ll love this one just as much. The missing crayons have postcards of their own to send, and the Brown Crayon page always has my students laughing!
The Day the Crayons Quit Letter Writing Activity
After reading one or both books, invite your students to choose a crayon color and write a letter or postcard to Duncan—just like the crayons did! This creative writing activity encourages students to think about their crayon’s personality, feelings, and unique point of view. The finished letters are always imaginative, funny, and completely different from one another.
💚 Download the FREE Crayon Letter Writing Templates here!
Crayon Postcard Writing Activity
After reading The Day the Crayons Came Home, have students choose one of the missing crayons and write a postcard to Duncan, just like the crayons in the story. This activity encourages students to think about each crayon’s adventure, personality, and feelings while practicing creative writing. Every postcard is different, and students love imagining where their crayon has been and what it wants Duncan to know.
💚 Download the FREE Crayon Postcard Writing Template here!
Crayon Search Game
Looking for another fun extension? Try the Crayon Search Game! You can play it as a whole-group guessing game or hide crayons around the classroom using the clues for students to find. Either way, it’s an engaging way to reinforce the books while getting everyone involved.
💚 Download the FREE Crayon Search Game here!
Our Crayon Celebration
When The Day the Crayons Came Home was first released, we celebrated with a little crayon party! My boys invited a few friends over, and we spent the afternoon reading both books, playing the Crayon Search Game, and writing postcards to Duncan from our favorite crayons. My oldest was especially proud to tell everyone that we already had a copy before it was even available in stores!
The Brown Crayon page was the clear favorite, and the kids couldn’t stop laughing. It turned out to be such a fun way to celebrate a new book together.
If you try these activities with your class, I’d love to hear which crayon your students choose! Share your favorite ideas in the comments below or tag me on Instagram so I can see their creative letters and postcards. 💚
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