Must Have Art Supplies for Kids

I have felt for a really long time that doing arts and crafts is a great way to incorporate learning in a fun way and give kids the chance to be creative as well.  I've been doing crafts with my kids ever since Amanda was little.  She loved coloring (still does)...could be why she once took a RED crayon and colored all over our white refrigerator at age 3. 

Although I have a whole closet filled with just kids' art supplies, I thought I would compile a list of basic items that you can use to make some fun crafts with your kids.  Art is just an imagination gone wild.  It stimulates their minds.  And is a much better use of time then video games or tv watching.  When I was a little girl, we would play outside all day long...making up games.  We'd leave the house in the morning once our chores were done and wouldn't come back until it got dark or we were hungry.  We made up our own fun....our minds were stimulated by good old fashioned imaginations.  I think that's something lacking with today's kids.  Which is why I love doing art projects with my kids.

I get inspiration for crafts everywhere I look, magazines, children's books, catalogs, the internet, etc.  Lots of times, I'll be looking at a book and my mind will just start buzzing with ideas.


Here's a list of basic supplies...

*Crayons, markers, chalk and colored pencils are a given. 

*Glue - school glue, tacky glue, glue sticks, mod podge, glue gun.

*Paints - water colored paints, finger paints, poster paints, acrylic paints, etc.

*Paper - construction paper and plain white paper (we buy a reem of white paper from Walmart for the kids to use).

*Scissors - we love using crafting shears with zig zags, etc.

*Foam board - foam board comes in all shapes and sizes.

*Paint apron - trust me, you'll want one of these with little ones (I purchased Nathan's at the Dollar Tree, but you can find them anywhere art supplies are sold).

*Newspaper or plastic table cloth - to cover your table, especially for painting projects.

*Lots of different sized paint brushes, including sponge brushes.


Other fun stuff...

* Wiggle eyes, pom poms, beads, sequins, buttons, feathers


*Sponges and Stencils - did you know that you can make your own paint stencils, by cutting a pattern out of a sponge? Or that you could use your cookie cutters as stencils by tracing them or dipping them into paint?


*Paper plates - large and small size...we use paper plates as faces, and other fun stuff
 
*Styrofoam bowls - these are great to pour paint into, to keep little ones from mixing colors together in the bottles.


*Pipe cleaners

*Stickers

*Yarn, ribbon, string

*Tissue paper (in all colors)

*Felt

*Cotton balls

*Stamps (with an ink pad)

*Crepe paper streamers - we use streamers alot for windsocks and other crafts

*Empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls - using your imagination you make tons of stuff...snakes, trains, etc.

*Egg cartons

*Straws

*Glitter and glitter glue

*Old magazines


You can even use food as craft projects...

*Salt (left white or colored)

*Pasta (different shapes and sizes)

*Rice (can be colored by using food coloring)

*Dried beans, etc.

The possibilities are endless!  Let your imagination go a little wild and have some fun today!