Maybe you’ve collected a starter kit of art supplies, and now wonder about the best ways to store these supplies.
There are so many ways to organize art supplies, and this will differ depending on your space possibilities, how many supplies you have, and aesthetic preferences.
Instead of overwhelming you with the bazillion options from our favorite organizing stores, I want to keep this simple and start you off with one key idea.
If your child has easy access to materials, they are more likely to create.
Self-serve Art Supplies
For this reason, the first thing I want you to do is set up self-serve art supplies that your child can access when the ideas strike. You can set There are lots of ways to do this. If you’re looking for ways to organize your most frequently used art supplies, the rolling, portable art cart could be a great solution.
I appreciate that our everyday supplies have their own place, and that the cart can roll around the house and park itself right next to wherever my children decide to create.
What’s on the Art Cart?
I’ll outline what goes onto a Basic Preschool Art Cart, and share additional ideas for other creative cart uses.
Our cart has three shelves and it’s helpful to group materials by their likeness for easy finding and easy clean-up.
These are the three categories of materials that go onto the preschool art cart: Drawing and cutting tools, Attaching tools, Treasures
You can fill your cart with exactly what you see here, or substitute some of the items for things that are used more frequently by you or your child. The materials on our cart reflect an interest in drawing and 2-D art. If your child is invested in 3-D building, make substitutions accordingly.
While you won’t see building and paint supplies on our cart, we do store these other art-making supplies nearby.
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Build an Art Cart for Preschool Children
Top Shelf: Drawing and Cutting Tools
Washable Markers
Pencils and Colored Pencils
Crayons
Scissors
Paintbrushes
Middle Shelf: Attaching Tools
Tape: Colorful washi tapes, colored masking tape, and clear tape
Glue: White glue, colored glue, and glue sticks
String: baker’s twine, cotton twine
Stapler
Bottom shelf: Treasures
Stickers
Pom-poms
Sequins
Wiggly eyes
Buttons
Stickers: Color coding labels
Sketchbooks
Dough Tools: Sculpting Cart
Play dough
Play dough tools
Air dry clay
Mini muffin pan
Spoons and bowl
Building Tools: Tinkering Cart
Low-heat glue gun
Recyclables
Broken toys and appliances
Hammer
Tacks
Goggles
Duct Tape
Scissors
Screwdriver
Paint Tools: Painter’s Cart
Tempera Paint
Watercolors
Paintbrushes
Rags
Water containers
Apron
Paper
How the Art Cart Works
When my kids want to create something, the art cart is self-service. They can find what they need, remove it from the cart, and then put it back in its place when they’re done. These are some of the projects we’ve worked on with materials form our art cart (top to bottom):
Sequins, beads, and buttons stuck into dough
Homemade crown with Sharpies, glue stick, and scissors
Office stickers and Tape in paper frames
Paper doll with clear tape, stickers, and permanent marker
Where to buy an Art Cart
Ikea: We love our Raskog Kitchen Cart. Like anything IKEA, you have to assemble it yourself, but it’s not a difficult assembly. The cart is sturdy (made of steel), the casters are solid. Comes in 3 colors.
Amazon: Heavy duty 3-tier Utility Rolling Cart. Comes in 5 colors.
Next up, see the Art Cart in Action
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