Hellobee

I did a huge roundup of must-have arts and crafts supplies last year, and Mrs. Tricycle recently wrote a great post on must-have Pinterest art supplies for toddlers. Charlie draws independently every day, and Olive is becoming a little budding artist herself. Her preschool teachers tell us that she always heads for the art table during choice time.

Now that Charlie is 5, we’ve been able to expand our art supplies beyond the basics. We have many drawing tools from which to choose, and both kids use everything — markers, pencils, pastels, colored pencils, pens — except crayons for some reason. I think we should just use them to make melted crayon art! Here are some items we’ve added to our art supplies:

1) gel pens – Perhaps the kids prefer all of the drawing implements I’ve included in this roundup over crayons because they glide more easily on paper like these gel pens. These come in such a fun variety of colors including glitter and metallic!

2) Sharpies – For some reason Charlie is obsessed with Sharpies, maybe because he knows they’re permanent! But he is used to using them in kindergarten, so I let him use them from time to time.

3) oil pastels – This affordable set is one of my go-to gifts for Charlie’s friends. Kids love using them because they’re so smooth, bright, and blendable. They do make a mess though!

4) Ikea Alex Drawers – We use this to store our art supplies and we’re thinking about getting another one since it’s already full. Previously we used the Ikea Raskog Utility Cart, but it just wasn’t big enough to store everything. What I like about the Alex drawers is that each kid can have a designated drawer to store their artwork.

5) scented markers – All kids love markers but they love scented markers even more! This is another one of my go-to gifts for Charlie’s friends.

6) Drawing Books – I bought a couple of drawing books by Dan Green for myself when Charlie was 2 because he always asked me to draw for him. But those books are too hard for him so I did some research into the best drawing books for kindergarteners. Ed Emberley has a number of fun books, but time and time again the Draw Write Now series was recommended as the best series to teach young kids how to draw step by step. The Ubsorne Playtime books also look great — they teach you how to draw things in 6 simple steps — but they are harder to find. (Mrs. Chipmunk also did a roundup of drawing books for kids and adults here.)

7) decorative scissors – Kids love cutting things with scissors, and decorative scissors are even more fun!

8) stapler – Charlie loves to staple sheets of paper together to make a book. In fact he’s illustrating and writing a comic book right now!

9) Mr. Clean eraser – Marks on walls are inevitable, even with a 5 year old, and Mr. Clean is an absolute must in your parenting cleaning kit. This really removes everything!

10) light box – We got this for Charlie for Christmas after seeing Charlie’s tracings using the one in his classroom. It really helps with fine motor skills.

11) Online Drawing Class – I’ve been wanting to enroll Charlie in a drawing class for some time, and I recently came across these highly recommended online drawing courses for kids by Mark Kistler. He offers live streaming classes as well as online video tutorials, and even in-person summer art camps for kids 6+. I’m thinking about getting a membership which gives us access to all the videos this summer because I’ve always wanted to improve my drawing skills too! You can get a discount for the classes by purchasing them through here.

12) washi tape – Charlie loves to raid my washi tape collection, and I’m thinking about getting this set for him that comes precut since it’s hard (even for me) to unroll the washi tape rolls.

13) pencil pouch – This 6 set of pencil pouches is really great to keep art supplies organized on the go.

14) customizable 3-ring binder – Charlie stores his favorite artwork in a binder. I like the ones with clear pouches on the front and back that allow you to customize it.

15) clear sheet protectors – Charlie puts his individual art in one of these before storing it in the binder.

16) Dry Erase Board – My kids love their dry erase boards. I keep a $1 version I got a Target in my diaper bag (mom bag since they’re no longer in diapers?), to keep them occupied when we’re on the subway or at a restaurant. It’s such a great learning tool!

17) Dry Erase markers – The kids like using the eraser on the tip, but a baby sock works great too!

18) Manual Pencil Sharpener – I tried several electric pencil sharpeners that didn’t work nearly as well as the manual one I had as a child. I put off buying a manual sharpener because it is sharp, but I let the kids use it with supervision and they love it so much. Plus our pencils and color pencils get the sharpest tips ever!

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Is there anything you’d add to this list for your independent little artist?