If you are just getting started making art with your little (or big!) ones, here are some of the supplies and materials we use on a regular basis.
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Basics:
Paper
- Drawing/paint
- Watercolor
- Construction/craft
Paint
- Tempera; Tempera paint sticks; Tempera cakes
- Watercolor: cake pan watercolor; liquid watercolor
- Acrylic
Drawing tools
- Markers
- Crayons
- oil pastels
- chalk pastels
- Sharpies
Glue
- White craft glue
- Glue sticks
- Rubber Cement
Tools
- Brushes
- Hot glue gun
- Brayer
More fun supplies to have on hand:
Pom poms
Pipe cleaners
Glitter
Pony Beads
Paint Markers
Feathers
Washi tape
Tissue paper
Yarn
Chalk Markers
Stickers
Freebies!
These are the materials that are great to have in addition to your other basic supplies and many can be found in delivery packages or your recycle bin!
- Cardboard– Cardboard is one of my favorite materials to use because it is so versatile, sturdy, and free! Items I save and use frequently include cereal boxes, shipping boxes, packages inserts, milk cartons, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, and egg cartons. We used cardboard for these Process Art Boxes and our Monochromatic Collage: Green Study
- Containers– Water bottles, milk jugs, detergent bottles. See our Water Bottle Fish Mobile and Milk Jug Faces
- Bubble Wrap– Bubble wrap is a great material for printing or creating textures. See how we used bubble wrap for these Owls and this Bubble Wrap Wall Hanging.
- Bottle Caps- Bottle caps are found in so many food and household items and, unfortunately, cannot be recycled. We used bottle caps for these Milk Jug Faces, Upcycled Owls, and this Father’s Day Gift Idea.
- Nature– Our all time free material: Sticks, rocks, shells, leaves, flowers, dirt, sand, water. We used nature items for these projects: Tree Branch Painting, Shell Painting Activity, Nature Shadow Boxes, and Invitation to Play: Flower Station.
- Unconventional papers– Book pages, newspapers, magazines, paper grocery sacks. We used these free papers for our Spin Art Heart Garland, Monochromatic Collage: Green Study, and our Cardboard Collagraph Prints that we did for Creative QT.
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