In 1925, Sakura Color Products of Osaka, Japan, formulated Cray-Pas oil pastels with premium quality pigments, wax, and oil. Today, the finest elements continue to make up the Cray-Pas family of oil pastels. The best art curriculums nationwide use Cray-Pas to teach and practice art techniques like blending, layering, scratching to create texture and fine detail. Cray-pas oil pastels are extremely smooth to apply, can create broad strokes, and allow the user to blend colors to build texture and depth for drawing, scratch art, or long lasting sidewalk art. Cray-Pas Junior Artist provides beautiful and blendable color for young hands. Oil pastels are an ideal medium to learn how to blend, mix and layer like paint, with the ease of a stick and without the mess of paints, brushes and water. Cray-Pas oil pastels can create oil paint effects, will not peel, crack or flake, are easily blendable, and are safe for children. The round shape of Cray-Pas Junior Artist is easy to hold, and are great for drawing, lettering, scratch art, and long lasting sidewalk art. A special chubbie size stick of Cray-Pas Junior is also available for little hands to grasp. Cray-Pas are excellent on paper, cardboard, and canvas. Cray-pas oil pastels are certified non-toxic by ACMI toxicologists and bears the trusted AP Seal.