This is a follow up post to Designing Playspaces: Our Art Room.

Before I start, I must admit that there are many, many brands and supplies out there for children's art and we have only tried a few of them.  The products listed here are the ones that we have tried and loved - but there are many brands we've just not gotten around to.  

I'm going to list a lot of ideas, but don't feel like you need to run out and purchase all of them immediately or your child won't have any fun with art!  With just a few basic supplies, kids will have a blast, I assure you!  We also have a huge art room to store things and have built up our mountain of supplies over three years.

Baby

For babies, I wouldn't recommend any art supplies beyond trying out Homemade Baby Paint (we have a natural dye version here and a brighter artificial dye version here - both are edible!).  It takes a long time for babies to develop the hand eye coordination (and the interest!) involved in making art.  If you'd like to experiment with playdough, we have a fully edible version (that is also Gluten-Free) here.  We also have a fun non-painting baby art activity here.  (And in case you're curious, you can find the rest of our Baby Play Activities here)

Toddler

Toddlers are just beginning to develop the coordination necessary for art.  They like to make big, messy projects, so be sure you have a splat mat!

S was a really big fan of foam stickers, as they are bright, easy to use, and she could mostly do the peeling herself (they don't easily tear like normal paper stickers). 

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Contact paper art with tissue paper is another big hit with the toddler set.  (Read more about how to make art with these two items here!)

Images courtesy of Discount School Supply

Paint is fabulous, as well, once they are beyond the "mouthing" stage.  Toddlers tend to get the paint on their skin quite a bit, and S has very sensitive skin.  We found that the Crayola brands of paint had an unpleasant smell and would cause her to get a rash after painting, so we switched to Lakeshore Learning tempera and fingerpaints and have had a lot of success with those.  We also have a set of Discount School Supply Colorations Simply Washable Tempera Paint and a set of Discount School Supply Colorations Washable Finger Paint and love them as well.  Neither have the weird smell that the Crayola paints had and neither have caused us any rashes.

Images courtesy of Lakeshore Learning

Paintbrushes - it's nice to have a good set of paintbrushes that are easy for little hands to hold.  Ours are from Lakeshore Learning, but Melissa and Doug also makes some that have a similar shape.

Image courtesy of Lakeshore Learning

As a toddler, S enjoyed making collages with layers of various materials.  These were some of her favorites:

S had a big bin of mixed sequins, which she loved to use to decorate everything.

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Googly Eyes are fun to add (particularly since toddlers often add several eyes in weird spots - always entertaining for me).  When S was younger, I really appreciated the self adhesive kind because glue takes so long to dry.

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Colored Craft Sticks - We used these for collages, making "snakes" throughout the house, and still use them to play with our sensory materials.

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Pompoms - We also use these for tons of things.  They are even in our Rainbow Discovery Bottles.  They're great for art and sensory play!  I have had a lot of success finding them at the Dollar Store.

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Colored feathers - There are many different types/colors of feathers.  They have such a unique texture and look,  so we have a jar on hand for our projects.

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Colored construction paper is nice for adding color (and teaching colors!).  And our favorite paper for all art is a butcher paper dispenser, like the one we bought at Ikea.  It's nice to be able to make big, small, or even medium sized paper so quickly!

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

S also really enjoyed (trying to) stamp at this age.  Most of her stamping ended up on herself, so be sure to buy a highly washable ink!  We've had a lot of success with this Colorations Jumbo Washable Classroom Stamp Pad - no rashes and it would always wash off easily.  These are our favorite stampers, but any stamps at all will delight your child!

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Playdough!  We prefer to make our own because we can make so much more all at once, but the storebought kind is still fun (and smells like my childhood!).  We also have a bucket full of random plastic Playdough Tools that I've accumulated from garage sales, clearance sets, and old cookie cutters, etc.  

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Liquid watercolors!  They are one of our most favorite art supplies - if you are not familiar with them, this post details how we use them and also gives you several brand choices.

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Crayons - We have had a lot of disappointment with off-brand crayons.  We love Crayola brand, but S's favorite are these Melissa and Doug Triangle Crayons.

Image courtesy of Amazon

Watercolors - You can just use liquid watercolors instead, but sometimes we use these, too, because we have them.  Crayola Watercolors are the most vibrant dry watercolors I've found.

Image courtesy of Amazon

Color Wonder - I love the Crayola Color Wonder line for toddlers who are just learning to control markers/paint.  The markers and paintbrushes and paint in this line only react when used on the paper.  So if your child colors on the table, themselves, your couch, etc, nothing happens!  We bought a set of these for using on a long airplane flight when S was a toddler and they were a huge hit.  She still likes to play with them as a preschooler because it's like "magic" how the colors appear!

Image courtesy of Amazon

Preschool

Preschoolers have enough coordination (and attention span, hahaha) to really branch out in art.  By this age, S had the above mentioned materials plus:

Glitter!  We love glitter.  I taught S how to use glitter correctly and she does it herself quite well now.  Yes, it has the potential to spread, so factor that into your decision, but it does vacuum easily and it's so SPARKLY.  ;)

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Colored pencils - Crayola colored pencils are great; our favorites are Melissa and Doug Colored Pencils for ease of use and intensity of color.

Image courtesy of Amazon

Slick Stix - these can be messy, but they are a cool alternative to pastels.  They work about the same, but are easier for little hands to use.

Image courtesy of Amazon

Foam sheets - We use these for lots of our play and S enjoys cutting shapes and people out of the foam.

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

Kid Scissors - S is obsessed with perfecting her scissor skills.  We have two pairs of these scissors since she's always wanting to use them.  They are fabulous - sharp enough to cut paper, but not so sharp that she's hurt herself.

Image courtesy of Discount School Supply

There are tons more art supplies out there - but hopefully this list will give you a good starting place.  These are the items we use the most frequently in our day to day art projects.  As always, be mindful of choking hazards and items that are not safe for tasting when contemplating art materials to use with under 3s.  

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children.  As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family.  I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision.  Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies).  Observe caution and safety at all times.  The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.