Hello there. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about materials for continuing creativity at home, and having tried a great many different materials at home and in the studio, I’m super happy to provide a list of economical, lovely to use art and craft materials. These recommendations are simply based on my opinion and I hope it helps as we parents embark on the joys of homeschooling and creating with our little artists.

For those of you who are local to Charlestown, where we live and have our studio, we love to support our local businesses, so I want to start by giving a shoutout to our very own Mockingbird shop. They’ve put together an Arts & Crafts section and here are some items that you might really love:

Ooly brand supplies are always great, Ariana and I especially love their color change markers, which are truly magic markers; and their Chunky paint sticks have a smooth buttery texture with vibrant colors that kids delight in as well. Check out the Mockingbird Arts & Crafts Aisle. Support Local whenever possible.

Here are some other items I think are really versatile, economical, and delightful to have at home. The setup is pretty basic – a set of vibrant watercolors, a good heavy weight paper that can withhold some water and mixed media work, colored construction paper, twistable crayons (which break less frequently than regular crayons) tacky glue for sticking things, Glitter Glue to add some sparkle. And lastly, a dry erase clipboard is just great for doodling and sketching out ideas.

Putting the “shopping list” aside for a second, I want to also point out that there are SOOO MANY ways to upcycle items in your own home—milk cartons, egg cartons, plastic container, straws, CARDBOARD (my favorite), dried flowers, aluminum foil, kebab sticks etc. When taking inventory of what you can create with, try to broaden your idea of what might work and save items for play.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me! 🙂

Arteza Watercolors

Tacky Glue

Canson XL Mixed Media Paper

Sunworks Construction Paper

Crayola Twistable Crayons –

Dry Erase Clipboard

Glitter Glue

Oil Pastels

Paint Brush Set (Ikea)

Watersoluble Color Pencils (Ikea)

Requested additional links:

The pictured supply sorter/organizer 

Let’s talk about invitations to create… simple ones we can implement in our homes that don’t require great efforts in set up and clean up that are also age and skill appropriate. What used to be our coffee table from Ikea is now A’s art/craft table at home. There’s nothing super picturesque about our setup… it’s not instagram worthy by a lot of standards but it’s our real, unstaged setup. We have a simple tray to hold jars, cups, and repurposed boxes to organize/display different mark making tools, a placemat to catch most extraneous marks, and a big pad of paper that we always have turned to a blank page. Loose work as well, but can get cluttered so we prefer the pad for this purpose.

The tools should be ones your little artist has already mastered, to some degree. Don’t put out scissors if your kid doesn’t know how to handle them safely. Put out materials you’re comfortable leaving with your kid semi-unsupervised. In the beginning, this may just be a set of washable chunky crayons. As they start getting bigger and more comfortable with a larger range of tools, you may be tempted to lay it all out. This can be overwhelming so try to limit it to a few different textures and tasks.

Spark joy: On some mornings before I leave for the studio, I’ll pose on of A’s dolls dressed in a funny outfit and doodling… a playful invitation to play that is one of the first things she notices when she comes out of her room in the morning. I’ll add one more note to keeping it organized, labeled, and well maintained – it teaches little artists to respect the tools they use. They learn that everything has a right place and needs to be cared for – they are learning a great life skill. Nothing stops creativity in its tracks quicker than dried out, crusty materials. Am I right? 🤓 What are some ways you invite your little artists to create?

What’s currently on our tray?

Crayola Twist Crayons

Water-soluble color pencils (always sharpened)

Magic Markers

(1) Drawing Pencil

(1) Dry Erase Marker

Tempera Paint Stick Pens

Oil Pastels

(1) Scizzors

Elmer’s Glue

Small grid notebook

One large 11×15 Drawing Pad