Hellobee

Drawing is one of Charlie’s favorite things to do. We have a credenza filled with art supplies, and the first thing he usually does when he comes home from school is head straight for it to pull out some paper and art supplies. We also rely on lots of arts and crafts to get through the cold winter days indoors, and now that Charlie is in public school, we regularly use art supplies for his school projects.

18 months was the magic age to get started with art because he had better fine motor skills, he was better able to understand what to do, and he stopped putting things into his mouth (before that crayons and chalk would go straight into his mouth). Since then we’ve experimented with a lot of different art supplies, so I’ve created 4 separate guides for must have art supplies: one for the beginning artist, one for the budding artist, supplies that are fun extras, and household items that double as art supplies.

This first guide is for those of you just getting started with doing art with your little ones. 1) Paper Roll – It’s easier for little ones to have a big canvas when first starting out. A standing easel is a nice to have, but we’ve never really had the space for one and it’s never deterred us from doing lots of art!

2) Paintbrushes – These oversized ones are easy for little hands to hold, but I would definitely invest in a set of assorted sizes as your child gets a little older. You can often find them at the dollar store.

3) Play doh – I love making our own play doh because it’s safe for even very young toddlers to play with. Plus making it is half the fun!

4) Watercolor palette – We have watercolors that come in bottles, but I prefer using these palettes because they’re so quick and easy.

5) Tempura Paint – Tempura paint has a thick texture that can be more fun for little ones to paint with than watercolors when you’re first starting out. You really only need red, yellow, blue, and white to make a ton of different colors.

6) Paint Palette or Cupcake Pan – Initially we bought no spill paint cups, but that ended up taking a lot of space and required more clean up. Now we use paint palettes or cupcake pans to hold 6 different colors in one easy palette!

7) Crayons – Crayola crayons tend to snap, so I like these jumbo triangular crayons from Melissa and Doug for little hands. They don’t roll away, and they don’t break. I never buy crayons because we get them at almost every children’s party we attend, so we have enough to last us a lifetime!

8) Sidewalk chalk – This set is affordable and lasts forever. I like to keep some in the stroller so we have them with us when we go to the playground.

9) Dot markers – Charlie and Olive love these dot markers. They’re easy and fun to use, and they’ve both made some surprisingly beautiful pieces of art with these!

This second guide is for kids that are a little bit older and have some experience with arts and crafts.

1) Color pencils – Color pencils require better fine motor skills than crayons, but they allow for drawing finer details. The Crayola set we have breaks easily when we sharpen them, so I’m ready to invest in a higher quality set like these from Prismacolor since Charlie uses them all the time.

2) Eraser – This is the best eraser.

3) Pencils – Being able to erase what you draw is half the fun. And I like to get Charlie used to pencils since he uses them in school.

4) Electric Pencil Sharpener – We have a little manual pencil sharpener that breaks pencil tips all the time, so I’m ready to invest in an electric pencil sharpener that Charlie can use with supervision.

5) Sketchbook – I’ve been buying sketchpads for Charlie since he was 2 and he first started showing a big interest in drawing. At the time he didn’t have the fine motor skills to draw much of anything, so he would ask me to draw things for him. He loved going through the sketchbook and looking over all the drawings. Now he has a sketchbook filled with his own drawings. I love having everything bound in one place instead of lots of loose paper scattered everywhere (although we do have that too!).

6) Construction Paper – This is a must have in our art supply tool kit. When your kids are younger, you can cut out shapes for them to make collages. From around 3+ when they can start using kiddie scissors, cutting their own paper can keep them occupied for a very long time. Charlie absolutely loves to make collages.

7) Markers – Markers can drive me crazy so I only let the kids use them with supervision. Not only do they lose the lids so the markers dry out, they always draw on something they’re not supposed to draw on…. like the wall. Thank goodness for magic erasers. So even though I think markers are easier to use than crayons for little kids, I tend to keep them away from young toddlers. I also recommend buying a small set instead of the huge set I bought because it was inexpensive.

8) Gluesticks – I like the ones that are purple but dry clear, but these white ones that you can buy in bulk are more affordable.

9) Glue – We use good old Elmer’s glue all the time at home not just for gluing things, but you can also mix it with shaving cream to make fluffy snow paint!

10) Marker holder – I’ve been meaning to get one of these so I can let the kids use markers more often. Hot glue the lids into the holder so you never lose them again, and be sure that you have the right-sized markers to fit in the holes.

11) Cutlery Tray – With all these art supplies you have to keep them organized somehow. One day I put all of our art supplies into a cutlery tray, and it works so much better than jars, pouches or boxes for us because the kids can easily access everything. We keep our crayons, color pencils, paintbrushes, watercolor palettes, pencils and erasers in here. You’d think they might make a bigger mess having access to all the art supplies at once, but this actually keeps it much more organized.

12) Scissors – The first time we let Charlie use scissors when he was 3, he cut a hole in a brand new t-shirt… on purpose. You have to use your discretion as to when your child is ready to use scissors. Charlie’s friend used them from the age of 2, but many kids aren’t ready until they are closer to 4. After that shirt cutting incident, Charlie wasn’t allowed to use scissors for a while, but he learned his lesson and is very careful now. He is very careful not to let Olive use them either. Just cutting paper can keep him happy for long stretches of time.

13) Hole puncher – The hole puncher can also keep Charlie happy for long stretches of time. And we can use it to punch holes in artwork and hang it up.

14) Masking tape – Every kid loves tape. You can make tracks with it, hang up artwork, make collages, and it easily peels off.

15) Stamps – Like markers, kids tend to stamp things other than paper, so I make sure they don’t run off with the stamps and stamp pad. They are so easy to use, and as kids get older they can use them in their drawings to tell stories.

This third guide includes fun extras for your budding artist and crafter. They’re not must haves, but they’re nice to have.

1) Popsicle sticks – There are many crafts you can make with popsicle sticks from houses to boxes to people. Spoonful has a great roundup of popsicle stick crafts here.

2) Pom poms – We use pom poms for so many crafts. An unexpected use for them is to create a sensory box filled with pom poms. We went over to a friend’s house where they filled a box of pom poms, added cups and spoons and made “smoothies” or “ice cream” that the kids really enjoyed.

3) Googly Eyes – I don’t know what it is about eyes but kids love them.

4) Glitter pens – Glue + glitter. Pretty hard to resist.

5) Glitter – This is one thing I wouldn’t let the kids use without supervision because it gets everywhere, but glitter really adds that extra special something to certain crafts. It’s also great to add to paint!

6) Craft Foam Sheets – These stick to windows and bathtub walls so you can make your own snowman, Christmas tree, person, and redecorate it over and over again.

7) Pipe Cleaners – We use these to make animal figurines, flowers, glasses, crowns…. they’re so versatile!

8) Tissue Paper – Olive loves tissue paper. We crumple it up and glue it on and it’s a wonderful sensory art project.

9) Felt Sheets – Felt sticks to itself and you can make just about anything with it — dolls, houses, quiet books, alphabets. They’re great for travel because they take up very little space.

This fourth and final guide includes things you may already have around the home that can be used for arts and crafts.

1) Vinegar – We buy vinegar in bulk because not only is it a great natural cleaner, making paper mache volcanoes is one of Charlie and Olive’s favorite things to do. If you’d like to keep it simple, you can try this simple vinegar + baking soda + food coloring experiment here!

2) Baking Soda – We buy baking soda in bulk as well. Not only is it great for cleaning, but you can mix it with water and freeze it to create snow!

3) Cottonballs – We’ve gone through a lot of cottonballs this winter making snowmen, snow, and Santa!

4) Old magazines – There are so many things to cut out of old magazines to create collages. Charlie loves cutting out faces and gluing them together.

5) Paper plates – You can make masks, animals, the sun, the moon and it’s super easy.

6) Paper Bags – We use paper bags to make trees. The kids adore them and they are so super easy to make. Paper bags are also perfect for making puppets!

7) Shaving cream – Just add some food coloring and you have paint for the bathtub! One of Charlie and Olive’s favorite activities.

8) Food coloring – We make bath paint, paint the snow, make colored ice cubes, explode volcanoes… truly a must have in our home!

9) Paper towel/toilet paper rolls – Fun on its own as a trumpet, but you can also make endless crafts with them.

10) Flour – We use flour to make paper mache. It’s such a great sensory experience!

11) Yarn – Great for adding hair onto puppets!

12) Beans – Buy them in bulk and create a bean sensory box that your little one can sit in (easier to clean up than rice), or create a mini sensory box like a construction play scene.

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So there you have it! Our favorite and must have art supplies for young children.

What are some of your favorite art supplies?