The Best Art Supplies for Kids

Tempera Paint

This a staple for kids’ art activities. It’s super versatile, inexpensive, washable, nontoxic, and readily available.

We also love and use BioColor Paint. It’s so shiny and vibrant! Plus, it adheres to more surfaces.

Watercolor Paint

If you haven’t tried liquid watercolor paint yet, you need to! We use it for painting, all kinds of craft projects and science experiments!

For a watercolor paint palette, we have used quite a variety. Crayola’s Education Watercolor Set is a fantastic basic set with vibrant colors, and we love OOLY’s fabulous neon palette!

Tempera Paint Sticks

There are many brands out there, but Kwik Stix are always a top favorite. We also love these neon and metallic sets. Paint sticks are a low mess, easy clean up way to invite your child to paint. And best of all, the paint dries in 90 seconds!

Oil Pastels

We like Crayola Oil Pastels for a sturdier oil pastel for little hands and Pentel for a finer version for older kids.

We also really like Faber-Castell gel crayons which are somewhere in between crayon & oil pastel with easy coverage.

Markers

We love the classic Crayola markers (skinny, thick, washable, non-washable — they’re all good). We also like Magic Stix and Stabilo markers, both of which don’t dry out if you forget that marker lid!

Sharpie permanent markers are great for work on different surfaces, but only use when confident your kids won’t draw on other surfaces!

Crayons

Crayola crayons work great for drawing so if you’re on a tight budget, get those and spend any extra money on some paints.

But if you’re okay with spending a bit more, we recommend Faber Castell beeswax crayons.

Colored Pencils

These are the under-appreciated workhorse in our house. We especially like Prang and Faber-Castell World Colors.

For younger artists, Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 pencils can be used for window art, watercolor paints (just add water) or as a crayon/colored pencil. The chubbier pencil means your toddler can grow with these for many years!

Paper

White art paper and colored construction paper are musts. Watercolor paper and poster board are good sturdy surfaces for painting.

We like easel paper rolls because they allow kids to work big or in groups.

But all you really need is some plain white paper. Or recycle bin paper!

Playdough

Homemade playdough is by far our favorite and here is a great no cook recipe.

But if you’d rather not make your own, try this set of playdough. It also comes in bigger buckets, purchased by color, if you find yourself going through it.

We love this set of playdough tools. And how about these adorable Forest Friends Stampers?!

Air Dry Clay

We use Crayola air dry clay all the time. It’s not as messy as real potter’s clay, plus, you know, air dry.

Model magic is another air-dry modeling material that is super fun, stretchy, and squishy. We’ve found that older kids really love this kind of clay. (Think tween party making keychains, earrings, or magnets!) We love this set for lots of fun colors!

Plastilina

This is a wonderful modeling clay that NEVER dries out and keeps basically forever. A mus-have if your child loves to build and sculpt! We especially like the Jovi brand for its soft, moldable quality.

Glue 

White glue makes SO many kids art activities possible. Glue sticks are also handy for paper collage.

And a glue gun makes gluing sculptures or structures (wood, cardboard, etc.) a lot quicker and easier. (If you’re worried about kids + glue gun, see Teacher Tom’s tips here.)

Glue is also a staple if your kids are into making slime! Try glitter glue or glow in the dark glue!

Scissors

Around age 2-3, kids can begin practicing making small snips with scissors on paper (with supervision, of course). These blunt tipped scissors are perfect for the task. Once your child enters elementary school, these pointed tip scissors are a better fit.

Tape

We’re tape happy! Besides colored masking tape, we use lots and lots of regular Scotch tape, and we have a bit of a love affair with washi tape and other printed craft tapes.

Stickers

Our kids LOVE stickers. Maybe yours do, too? We use all kinds, including colorful dot stickers, foil stars, and other office supply stickers. Eye stickers and a good supply of more commercial, image-based stickers.

If your kids love stickers, you might consider a sticker club such as Pipsticks or Mrs. Grossman’s for fun gifts.

Ink Pad and Stamps

This rainbow ink pad is our favorite as it’s large, washable, and it has all the colors we want in one place. We use this with our fingers for fingerprint art, with stamps, and for stamping household objects.

Chalk

Everyone uses sidewalk chalk! But we also recommend chalk for indoor art, both on paper and on a chalkboard in the house (which we highly recommend).

Liquid chalk markers and these Wonderstix (chalk/crayon combo that writes on anything!) are pretty awesome, too.

Droppers

Eye droppers or pipettes (we use and like both) are a favorite for lots of fun sensory activities and science experiments that involve liquid watercolors or even water.

Tissue Paper

Colored tissue paper is great for suncatchers, collage, and papier mache. You can apply it to contact paper for colorful suncatchers, glue it onto anything, or apply pieces directly to wet poster paint.

Bleeding Tissue Paper is a tissue paper that will bleed through to another surface when wet. A fun alternative for many process art adventures!

Con-tact Paper

Go with the name brand Con-Tact paper for sure. You can find it at most drug stores or grocery stores with the shelf-liner paper. We use it for all kinds of suncatcher and stained-glass projects as well as some collaging fun.

Collage Items

Some of our favorite items for collage include googly eyes, stickers (mentioned above), colored tissue paper (also above), rainbow feathers, buttons, colored pasta shapes, tape, pom poms, yarn, fabric scraps.

Sculpture Items

Pipe cleaners are good for manipulating, for building sculptures, for threading beads and pasta, etc.

Wood craft sticks are great for building, sculpture, crafts, catapults, everything. And wood scraps are fun for making wood sculptures.

Coffee Filters

We use white basket-style coffee filters for all kinds of arts and crafts projects, like snowflakes, buntings, spiderwebs, and collage. And check out this larger size, perfect for extra-large snowflakes! Coffee filters are easy to cut yet are sturdy enough for crafts.

Glitter

If you’re okay with glitter (some parents we know love it; some hate it), it makes a fun addition to many arts and crafts projects. Pretty much all the brands we’ve tried have worked great. Try biodegradable glitter like this one for a more environmentally friendly option.

Cardboard

Don’t throw away those cardboard boxes! Or paper towel rolls or egg cartons either, for that matter.

Recycle bin cardboard can be used for so much! Art activities, kids’ crafts, homemade toys, pretend play, construction, and more. Cardboard is the best!