Why were crayons invented in the first place?

The history of crayons

“Europe was the birthplace of the “modern” crayon, a man-made cylinder that resembled contemporary sticks. The first such crayons are purported to have consisted of a mixture of charcoal and oil. Later, powdered pigments of various hues replaced the charcoal. It was subsequently discovered that substituting wax for the oil in the mixture made the resulting sticks sturdier and easier to handle.”

I would presume that the original charcoal sticks were used by artists. Crayola brand crayons were designed specifically for kids. And Crayola seems to have done a fantastic job of brand imaging, at least as far as internet searches. Their name is everywhere.

From pure speculation I would say that crayons did not start off as a curiosity for children. The birth of the crayon was subsequent to the birth of color itself. That much is obvious, as children are born into a world of color. I think the underlying question could be “When and how did the birth of art take place?” Because it was the creative idea of a person who wanted to draw that led to wanting to draw with colors.

To give little brats something to do instead of annoying their parents? :D

My simple answer is that as society became more industrialized and modern, and people had more time on their hands to do leisurely things, and kids were freed to have more time for fun (rather than work on farm chores for example), we started to make things to fill the time. Just like the invention of television and such.