Early exposure to art has been shown to improve children’s play, communication and social skills, among other important benefits. Most kids get excited about art projects, but choosing the right art supplies can be daunting. Helping children get started with art doesn’t have to be complicated. So what are the best art supplies for kids? Read on.
The Best Art Supplies for Kids Starts with the Basics
When it comes to selecting art materials, I want you to focus on keeping this simple, and my best advice is to start with the basics.
Once you have a few things in place, build from there as your child’s interests and your comfort level with making at home grow.
As soon as my older child started to make marks on paper, I was over-the-moon excited to start making art. What did I do? I invested in gallons of paint, reams of paper, and rolls and rolls of colorful tape. I have to admit that I went a bit overboard on that tape, and we still have rolls of that first order many years later.
I’d like to spare you some of the trouble I went through.
With young children, too many options can create a paralysis of choice, and simple is usually better than too much. When we limit the number of choices, we also set our kids up to think more imaginatively and creatively.
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What to Look for in Kids Art Supplies
We all want our kids art supplies to be safe, but what do you look for?
Art supplies are made all over the world. Some come with safety endorsements and other don’t. If safety is a top concern, here are a few things to look out for:
Make your own art supplies from natural materials so you know exactly what goes into them. For example, paint made from crushed berries or coffee grounds, or playdough made from flour, salt, and water. Look for the following statement on the art supply: conforms to ASTM [American Society for Testing and Materials] D4236. This means all of the potentially hazardous components of the art product have been clearly labeled on the product packaging.Look for an ACMI approval seal from the Art and Creative Materials Institute
How the Best Art Supplies for Kids were selected
I’ve been an art educator for 25 years, teaching art in preschools, elementary classrooms, middle and high school, museums, private studios, and in my own home. Hours of research and trial and error has gone into testing art supplies to bring you the very best, all in one spot.
The Best Art Supplies for Kids
You’re eager to help your child take their creative skills to the next level, but you’re not sure what to invest in. There are so many art kits available for kids, but plenty are low quality or don’t include the art materials you actually want or need, and you may feel overwhelmed or unsure where to start.
If you’re having trouble finding art supplies for your children or students, you can use this simple guide.
Open a new tab to take notes or pull out a piece of paper and pencil, and let’s get started!
1. Tempera Paint
First paint, and specifically tempera paint, which is a basic creamy paint with a consistency of mustard or house paint.
Tempera paint often comes in stand-up bottles that look shampoo containers. These bottles can be squeezed onto a plate or into ice cube trays. The paint can then be stamped with sponges, cotton balls, pine cones, paintbrush, you name it. I like to use washable tempera paint, for obvious reasons 🙂
For a DIY tempera paint, try making egg tempera paint with this easy recipe. I highly recommend trying this at least once.
What can you do with tempera paint? Make an interpretation of modern artist Jasper Johns in this whole body painting experience (shown above).
INSERT CRAYOLA PAINT PHOTO HERE
My favorite brand: Crayola Artista II Washable Tempera Paint applies well and comes in vibrant colors. You can also buy an art set with multiple colors for a better price.
2. Construction Paper
Paper of almost any type will happily get put to good use in your art space, but there’s one type of paper that is so versatile you can use it for drawing, painting, and all sorts of crafts.
If you have a young child or young students, I want you consider investing in larger sheets of paper. These will be fantastic blank canvases for multiple ideas and projects. Toddlers and preschoolers don’t have the fine motor skills to work small, and will prefer larger paper for their big, sweeping arm movements.
Look for a heavier 18″ x 24″ paper that can be used for all sorts of activities from painting at the table to taping against a fence.
What can you do with large sheets of construction Paper? Paint a large mural (see above)
My favorite brand: Prang 18″x24″ Construction Paper
3. Paint Brushes
If you’re painting, you’ll need brushes, right?
There are all kinds of kitchen tools and found objects that are so fun for painting, so feel free to get creative and make a rubber band brush (see above).
When it comes to finding brushes, it’s absolutely overwhelming to decide as there are just too many options!
I want you to focus on two kinds of brushes:
1. Fat easel brushes
2. Thinner watercolor brushes
For easel painting, get a set of fat bristle brushes.
My favorite easel brushes: Chubby Toddler Easel Paintbrushes for Tempera Paint
For watercolor painting and smaller, detailed painting, look for an art set of brushes with some variety. Go with something inexpensive.
My favorite watercolor brushes for kids: Crayola Arts and Craft Brush set
If you’re interested in detail brushes for older children and parents, check out this inside tip, and if you want to get experimental, try making your own brushes like the rubber band brush (above).
4. Crayons
Crayons are a childhood must-have! They’re also a low mess art material, which makes them extra appealing to most teachers and parents.
My kiddos have gone back and forth between colored pencils, markers, and crayons. Crayons are so versatile and often make an appearance on our art table for projects such as camouflage coloring and melted crayon drawings.
Pro tip: Break your crayons in half to make them more manageable for the preschool finger grip.
Crayon alternatives: If you want an extra splurge, pick up a pack of oil pastels (Sakura Cray-Pas are my fave) and a pack of paint sticks (Kwik Stix are fantastic). Two awesome supplies that take crayons to the next level.
My favorite crayons: Crayola Crayons These are a classic for kids of all ages, with great coverage and vibrant colors. You just can’t go wrong.
Just for fun, read this poll on my Facebook page archives on crayons vs. markers that you might enjoy reading.
5. Markers
From a pretty early age, my children preferred markers to crayons and I suspect it’s because the color from markers is much more vibrant and gratifying. For that reason, I suggest having a few different mark-making tools around to experiment with.
What can you make with markers? We enjoy bright markers for loads projects such as drawing art critters or a cool chromatography exploration with black markers.
My favorite thick markers for toddlers: Crayola Ultra Clean Washable Markers
My favorite thin markers: Crayola Super Tips
6. Liquid Watercolors
Liquid watercolors get used in so many different projects from coloring playdough to squirting it on coffee filters to homemade Goop (above) that they are easily the most used art supply in our house next to paper and markers.
The come in toothpaste-sized bottles and squeeze out of a bottle like ink or food coloring.
My favorite liquid watercolors: Color Splash paint set It’s economical, non-toxic, and comes in vibrant colors
7. Glue
I have a love affair with Elmer’s. I’ve tried other glues, but I’m incredibly loyal to this brand. It’s reasonably priced, non-toxic, and works like a charm.
If you have a toddler, this is an excellent beginner glue project for exploring glue, and you should also try setting up glue and leaves (above).
My favorite white glue: Elmer’s School Glue, also in gallon size for refilling (recommended): Elmer’s School Glue Gallon/s
8. Tape and Stickers
I’m putting tape and stickers in the same category because they can easily serve the same purpose of decorating and attaching.
Washi tape, paper tape, clear tape, stickers. We love it all.
My favorite paper tape: This art pack of 8 rolls in a rainbow of colors is a steal
My favorite stickers: Round or rectangle office sticker labels are simple and the way to go.
Pro tip: For toddlers, tape and stickers are an amazing attention-holder for developing fine motor skills. Offer a toddler a sheet of stickers to peel and stick to a sheet of paper. They’ll be engaged and mesmerized.
Pro tip #2: You can make your own tape dispenser with PVC pipes or cut small pieces off for your child to easily remove (above).
9. Scissors
This one is pretty straight forward. Fiskars is my absolute favorite brand. They’re easy for kids to hold, last forever, and they come in right and left-handed versions. Choose blunt tip for toddlers and early preschool, and pointed tip for elementary children.
My favorite blunt tip scissors: Fiskars blunt tip
My favorite pointed tip scissors: Fiskars pointed tip
My favorite left-handed scissors: Fiskars pointed tip left handed
My favorite versatile right/left hand scissors: Fiskars blunt right/left hand scissors
Pro tip for scissor cutting coordination: Here’s a little trick for helping young children learn to use scissors that I learned from Mary Ann Kohl’s awesome book, First Art for Toddlers and Twos: offer children fat worm forms of clay or play dough to cut up (see above). It’s much easier to cut than paper, teaches children how to use scissors, and a rewarding experience!
10. Play Dough.
Play dough is a staple for little kids! I probably should have put it first on the list because it’s just that good and useful. The sensory experience of working with playdough is unmatchable. You can squash it, roll it, build with it, “cook” with it, set up a pretend baking session, and add toys or craft materials like googly eyes and pipe cleaners to it.
My favorite playdough recipe: Buying playdough is just not worth it in my opinion. It usually comes in small containers, and you can make an enormous batch for a fraction of the cost. This is the Best Play Dough Recipe, used by just about every single preschool teacher I know. It’s amazing, pliable stuff that lasts for ages and it’s completely non-toxic.
If you’re interested in buying play dough, I really like this eco-friendly plant-dyed option from Eco Kids.
11. Treasures
Treasures are small craft supplies that delight such as feathers, yarn, sequins, and pom-poms. Offer these in multiples in bowls, along with glue or clay, and see what your child comes up with.
My favorite treasures: feathers, yarn, sequins, pom-poms, beads, buttons, sea shells, leaves, pebbles, beans
Safety tip: Please be cautious when using small objects with young children. We don’t want your child to curiously poke a bean up her nose in the name of creativity. 🙂
Storage tip: Store treasures in clear plastic or glass jars (to easily see what’s inside) with things like buttons, beads, pom-poms, and feathers.
12. Recyclables
Recyclables are FREE, don’t require a trip to the store, and help us do our bit for sparing the environment from new materials.
My favorite recycled supplies as art materials:
Plastic lids (they make great paint palettes)Cardboard: cut it into various shapes and sizes. Make a marble runYogurt containers: use to store paint or small craft suppliesPaper tubes — try making stampsEgg cartons: you can build with them, paint them, and cut them up into imaginative crafts
13. Low-heat glue gun
This might seems like a strange supply to have on a kids art supply list, but hear me out!
If you have a child who likes to build things, a low-heat glue gun is a tool you will love having. The tip doesn’t get enormously hot and it can be used to easily and quickly attach sculptural items together. You can start with making recycled art sculptures and work your way up to making found object critters.
My favorite low-heat glue gun: Surebonder Cool Shot is super low heat and is cool enough for children to safely use.
14. Easel
If you have a toddler or preschooler, you may have noticed how much they enjoy making art while standing or sitting on the ground. Sitting at a table, not so much. Okay, this is a generality, but standing to paint is so much easier for small hands.
Why? When young children are invited to paint, they’re often more comfortable working at an easel where their arms can have a full range of motion.
My favorite easels: We love our reasonably priced IKEA Mala easel (older version above), which we painted to give it a little bit of personality. I also like the Melissa & Doug Deluxe Easel includes trays on both sides so that two children can create simultaneously.
With the easel you can either use a roll of paper or the large 18″ x 24″ construction paper mentioned in the paper section.
Which is the best drawing kit for beginners?
As I shared earlier, art kits can be hit or miss. You may have noticed my appreciation for Crayola art supplies, and they make a kit that’s great. If you’re inclined to to this route, look for the Crayola Inspiration Art Case that includes crayons, colored pencils, and markers in an organized suitcase-style box.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed putting it together for you! For more ideas on basic tools and tinkering supplies, look for my book: TinkerLab: A Hands-on Guide for Little Inventors.
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