Art Supplies for Elementary Age Children
Elementary-age children love to create art. From paper collages to painted scenes to clay models, their imaginations are stimulated by the creativity they exercise in making artwork. Craft stores offer a wide variety of art supplies for elementary-age children; your children will appreciate having a supply of basics on hand.
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Paper
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Paper is the foundation for many art creations. Choose a variety of paper types: pads of construction paper for making mosaics and collages, an artist's pad of white paper for sketching and a large roll of butcher paper for drawing large scenes are popular choices. Encourage creativity by having plenty of paper so that children won't feel afraid to "mess up" their first piece.
Paint and Brushes
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Children of all ages love to paint. Younger children can begin with nontoxic finger paints and watercolors. Older children will enjoy using nontoxic poster and acrylic paints.
Large brushes work well for younger children, while older students with more developed dexterity will enjoy using finer-tipped brushes. They may also enjoy painting with objects such as feathers, sponges, stamps cut from potatoes or even string.
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Markers, Pencils and Erasers
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Water-based markers in a variety of tip widths offer creative color choices for elementary-age children. Colored pencils and crayons are helpful for creating drawings with more fine detail and shading.
Older students may have fun drawing with oil pastels. The pastel colors can be shaded using sponges or cotton balls.
Erasers are an essential craft item for correcting mistakes or blending lines and colors. A traditional large, soft, pink eraser is a good choice as it prevents tearing the paper.
Scissors
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Not only are scissors essential to many children's art projects, they also aid in motor skill development as children learn to manipulate them effectively. Blunt-tip scissors are available for younger children, who can progress to sharp-tip scissors as they mature.
Scrapbooking departments of craft stores offer safety scissors that cut many types of edges, from a postage-stamp look or scallops to waves or grass.
Adhesives
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Glue is an effective adhesive to hold together creations, and it comes in many forms. Glue sticks are handy for times when a light adhesive is needed, such as adhering pictures to a paper. Liquid glue provides a stronger bond.
Rubber cement and tape are other good options to keep in an art supply kit or closet.
Glitter and Beyond
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Children's creativity is only limited by the supplies available to them. For that reason, it's a good idea to include a variety of extras in the art supply kit. Supplies include clay and other modeling compounds, glitter, ribbon, rick-rack, feathers, small pom poms, buttons and nature items that children can collect outside (such as shells, pinecones, leaves and twigs).
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