Setting Up a Child’s Art Space: How Preschool Teachers Manage the Mess

Making art is important! The process of creating can help children:

• Develop the fine motor skills needed for writing
• Work through problems
• Invent things
• Improve patience and attention span

Even if your child loves art and you know all of the benefits, it can be hard to get started setting up an art space at home. It is messy, and if you haven’t worked with art supplies much yourself, it can feel intimidating. With that in mind, I would like to share with you how preschool teachers manage the mess and guide you towards some of the best basic tools and supplies for making art with kids. Get yourself set up with a few tools to make things as easy as possible: - First of all, invest in a few tarps or drop cloths to cover floors and tables during art time so you’re not worried about paint and glue spills. I like to keep tarps and drop cloths in a big tub: I just fold them messy-side-in and take them outside to hose off every once in a while.

- Open-top baskets are the simplest way to store any supplies you want your child to help herself to (like crayons and markers), and small drawers help corral collage supplies. - Desktop paper sorters are great for organizing drawing paper, and they are easily accessible for young children.

- Lazy Susans are ideal for holding jars of paint within reach of small hands, and can often be found at second hand stores for just a few dollars.  - Using decent quality brushes really improves the experience of art-making for children. They usually only cost a bit more that the “children’s” kind, and if you or your child wash them out each time they will last for years. Try to pick out a variety: long handled easel brushes, an assortment of small brushes for detailed painting, wide utility brushes, and a few cheap brushes to use only for glue.

- When he is done painting, fill a dishpan with warm water and encourage your child to wash the brushes. Kids love water play, so he should be happy to help if you approach him in a positive way. To get started, I recommend:

• Tempera paints in primary colors, plus black and white. Kids can blend their own colors on a plastic plate or palette.
• Liquid watercolors (which are much more vibrant than the dry cake kind)
• Crayons
• Markers
• Scissors
• A great big sketch pad
• Construction paper
• Colored masking tape

When you are ready to explore more you can add:

• Oil pastels – kind of like extra rich & vibrant crayons
• Soft pastels – these are chalk-like sticks that can be drawn with & blended with fingers
• A BIG roll of paper…because sometimes it’s just so much more fun to really spread out on a big paper
• Washable glue – glue is actually much messier than paint! Keep a damp rag nearby to wipe fingers.

Keep large jars of paint and glue in high cupboards, out of reach of your kids. There’s no need to buy special containers for paint or brushes; just keep an eye out in your kitchen for yogurt cups, jelly jars, and plastic canisters that can be repurposed. And if you are concerned about what to “make” with these supplies, don’t worry! Let your child tell you how she would like to use them.

All art supplies featured are from Blick Art Materials

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