On UN World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, Crayola launched Colors of the World crayons – 24 new specially formulated crayons designed to mirror and represent more than 40 global skin tones across the world. With the Colors of the World crayons, Crayola hopes to cultivate a more inclusive world for children of all ages, races, cultures and ethnicities.

“With the world growing more diverse than ever before, Crayola hopes our new Colors of the World crayons will increase representation and foster a greater sense of belonging and acceptance,” says Rich Wuerthele, chief executive officer, Crayola. “We want the new Colors of the World crayons to advance inclusion within creativity and impact how kids express themselves.”

To ensure the new Colors of the World crayons were developed to reflect an accurate skin tone palette, Crayola not only conducted rigorous consumer testing, but also partnered with Victor Casale. Casale, formerly chief chemist and managing director, R&D, MAC cosmetics and cofounder and chief innovation officer, Cover FX and current chief executive officer, MOB Beauty, possesses more than 30 years of experience in creating foundation colors for global skin tones.

“I have spent my life trying to create truly global shade palettes because I know what it’s like to be with a person who has finally found their exact match,” says Casale. “They feel included and recognized, and I am hoping every child who uses these crayons and finds their shade will have that feeling. Growing up, I remember mixing the pink and dark brown crayons to try and make my shade, so I was thrilled when Crayola asked for my help to create the Colors of the World crayons.”

The crayon packs feature side panels that serve as color references, and each crayon is wrapped in a gradient skin tone label with the color name in English, Spanish and French, and purposefully has a realistic color name – such as Light Golden, Deep Almond and Medium Deep Rose – all to help kids easily find the shade they identify as their own.

Crayola Colors of the World crayons come in a 24- and 32-count pack and will begin to hit shelves in July. The 32-count crayon pack, sold exclusively at Walmart and comprised of the 24 new colors plus four hair and four eye colors, is available for pre-order today via this link on Walmart.com. The 24-pack will be available at a later date.