I’m always looking for good resources – supplies, books, links. Here’s a list of some of my main necessities and favorite supplies.

Disclosure: Most of the links below are affiliate links which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission. This comes at no extra cost to you, but is a nice way to let me know you are appreciating the site. I only recommend these products because I find them helpful and useful and I think you’ll like them too!

Thanks, Shelly

PAPER

Every Day Art Paper

This is the paper we usually have on hand. There are so many different types of paper these days, but its great to have a stack of white paper for every day use of drawing and making paper airplanes. We keep it in an open box for the kids to have access to whenever they feel like using it.

Water Color Paper

Water color paper is just the best for watercolors, we’ve used regular paper with them before and always end up with puddles on our paper. Watercolor paper soaks up the paint so nicely and allows the colors to seep into it. Its also great when you need a heavier weighted paper.

Cardstock Paper

I just love this cardstock paper! We use it almost all the time these days instead of construction paper. My kids love the bright colors and sturdiness of it.

Foam Paper

We are avid foam paper users! We use it to make masks, crowns, rocket ships, picture frames and anything else we want to last a little longer than paper. Foam paper is so easy to cut and glue, we love it!

Kraft Paper

Its always handy to have a roll of kraft paper, or brown paper around. The 2 main things we use it for are covering the table on our working area, and wrapping paper! We love stamping, coloring and designing our own wrapping paper for that personal touch.

DRAW

Washable Markers

Washable everything! If you have little ones washable markers are a must! We like the Super Tips as they offer a nice variety of colors and are great for my 2, 4 & 6 yr old, and should they decide to color the wall or couch, they come off easily!

Washable Crayons

As I say washable everything! I never thought I’d need washable crayons, but alas my children know how to ‘express’ themselves, so now it’s washable crayons. Crayola really know how to keep the colors bright though, and I haven’t noticed a difference between these and the regular ones.

Erasable Colored Pencils

If you have perfectionistic children the erasable colored pencils are the way to go! After a mini melt down from my son drawing a beautiful picture then ‘messing up’ I immediately scoped out some erasable pencils, now if he messes up he can easily erase and we avoid the meltdowns… well in the pencil department anyways!

Sharpie Markers

It might seem weird after all the erasable and washable drawing materials that I recommend Sharpies, but they are great for so many things! I let my older kids use these when I’m supervising them.

Fun Chalk

Fun Chalk, is exactly as it sounds, fun! These chalk markers can be used on black boards, white boards, windows, mirrors, rocks, leaves, and so many other things. They’re washable, eco friendly and super bright and fun!

Kwik Stix

These little gems are the best! Its like painting without the mess of painting! While we still love actual paint, these are great for when we need a cleaner project. They offer the brightness of paint without the mess!

Bingo Daubers

I heard about these awesome bingo daubers from Shannon over at Hatch Art Studios they last for a super long time and are a great mess free material to use for little ones, plus these daubers come with disco ball caps! How cool is that?!

PAINT

Tempera Paint

I love tempera paint, especially the washable kind! This paint washes off easily and still hold bright colors! Love this paint!

Liquid Watercolor Paint

Liquid water colors are such a great way for little ones to paint. Squirt these into individual dishes and give them a dropper or big paint brush and they’ll be good to go!

Watercolor Palette

We use both liquid water colors and water color palettes. The water color palettes we use offer up more color selection and also help them learn to use a palette… with LOTS of water 🙂

Acrylic Paint

We just love FolkArt acrylic paint, their colors are so vibrant and strong. You have to be careful when using acrylic paint with children as it doesn’t wash out of clothes so easily, so when we use it I have them strip down if its warm enough or wear old clothes (tops and bottoms) that we don’t mind getting painty.

TOOLS

Paint Brushes

We love these big paint brushes especially for our liquid water colors, they’re great for grabbing a good amount of paint and fully covering the surfaces of our projects.

Variety Paint Brushes

While we love our big paint brushes, sometimes you also need smaller ones. This variety pack offers a great selection of different kinds of paint brushes to suit your painting needs.

Paint Jar

We hate wasting, especially paint. We store our paint in little jam jars that we buy from the store. That way you can open it up paint and close it back up when done without having to throw out any paint!

Scissors

My kids love cutting, and scissors are a necessity for creating. We find the Fiskars 5 Inch Kids Scissors work really well.

Glue

Where scissors and paper are involved often times so is glue! White school glue is a staple in our house. So. Many. Uses. We love the Elmer’s bran, but any brand will do. It can also be handy to store your glue in jam jars then open and use with a cheap plastic bristled paint brush, or Q-Tip, I find less glue is used this way, especially with little ones.

Glue Stick

While white school glue is a must, I feel glue sticks are as well. I usually supervise the white school glue usage, however, they can have free reign with our glue sticks. I love using the disappearing colored glue sticks so they can see the glue they’re using, then it disappears once dry = perfect!

Stapler

Swingline make such a great stapler. Less jams = a happier you!

Scotch Tape

I definitely recommend having a tape dispenser. My kids use less tape having a tape dispenser that works well, and believe me they go through tape!

Hole Puncher

My kids are 2, 4 & 6, and honestly don’t use a hole punch that much, but I use it all the time for them to punch holes into projects to hang or for necklaces, or to make fun confetti!

Electric Pencil Sharpener

This is a major time saver if you don’t want to keep sharpening your children’s pencils.

Pipettes

Be it for science experiments, liquid water colors or potion making pipettes are always handy to have with kids.

Glue Gun

I’m usually the one to use the glue gun, we have a low temp and a high temp glue gun, but I’ve heard good reviews about this one, and if you have older kids I love the idea of introducing them to a low temp glue gun, it’s just such a handy tool!

Brayer

We love print making, and this just helps give such a nice smooth even layer to the paint when print making. Definitely not a necessity, but nice to have for prints!

FOR FUN

Pom Poms

My kiddiewinks just love pom poms! We use them to play with (pretend candy shop, sorting and random crafts) Always a fun addition to a project.

Feathers

Another fun addition to a project is feathers. Lots of fun for furry creature building or adding as detail to an animals ear, or just sticking on paper! Also fun for tickle fights 😉

Beads

Beads are one of my favorite additions to projects! I love adding them to tassels, art hangings, ornaments, necklaces, wind chimes, the list is really endless! I love this assortment of beads, but you could also buy plain ones and paint them yourself.

Popsicle Sticks

These little guys are always handy to have, great for puppet making, fairy house building or paint mixing.

Googly Eyes

Anything becomes a little more fun with googly eyes. Add them to nature, puppets, or even some play doh to make it come to life.

Pipe Cleaners / Chenille Stem

We use pipe cleaners alllll the time, they’re great for flower stems, purse handles, sculptures, mask embellishments, whiskers, eye brows and the list goes on!

Regular Drinking Straws

Straws have become such a staple material around here, we use them for stamping, necklaces, bubble blowing, loose part making and rocket shooting!

‘Smoothie’ or ‘Boba’ Straws

Just as above, we use straws for so many things, its great to have them in different sizes!

Washi Tape

Another great mess free decorating material! This is a material you can collect over time and just have a drawer full of. Children love using tape and washi tape is so fun to decorate and embellish projects with. I love this pack as a starter pack if you don’t have any yet.

Glitter Glue

My daughter goes through glitter glue like no ones business, we actually buy it from the Dollar Tree, but if you want a somewhat mess free glitter option, glitter glue is the way to go!

Sequins

Another way to add a little sparkle to your projects is with sequins. We love adding them to masks, hats, decorations and even paper and cardboard projects to give them a bit of bling!

Craft Wire

I discovered this beautiful craft material from Arielle over at Art Camp LA. Its a perfect substitute for string to use for threading necklaces. It’s pretty brilliant and perfect for little hands, you can give them the wire and they can easily thread their own beads and twist their necklace closed, so much easier than yarn or string = major win!