Art Materials: Every Child Needs Them!

In the last post,  I talked about letting children choose art materials and use them in their own way, because the "process" of creating is more meaningful to children than following a teacher made model to achieve a "product".

A basic collection of art materials might include the following:

• Crayons
• Markers
• Chalk
• Various types of paper including, construction paper in a variety of colors, typing paper, newspaper, paper bags, notebooks, sticky notes, and card stock in various colors and cardboard. Different shapes of paper are also fun to use.
• Paints including tempera, watercolors, and finger paints.
• Paintbrushes of various sizes.
• Paint rollers, sponges, combs, and kitchen utensils, such as spatulas and forks.
• It's always a good idea to have a large sheet of plastic ( a used shower curtain works) to cover the floor and have old T-shirts or men's old short sleeve dress shirts that can be worn backwards to protect clothing.
• Play dough (homemade or store bought). There is even gluten-free play dough for those who just can't resist a snack!
• Clay
• Pipe cleaners.
• Boxes of different sizes
• Foil
• Paper towel tubes
• Straws
• Bubble wrap
• Cotton balls
• Feathers
• Yarn
• Googly eyes
• Pom poms in various colors
• Stickers
• Torn pieces of tissue paper
• Magazines to cut out pictures (watch the content!)
• Scissors
• Hole punches
• Glue sticks
• Stamps and pads

There are other items that can be added to enrich art activities, but the list provided will get you off to a good start.  

Now, some of you may be saying, "Are you kidding?"  No, I am not. But, let me relieve some anxiety by giving you some helpful hints about introducing and containing the materials.

If your classroom or children at home are two to three years old, let me suggest that materials be divided into containers with lids.  These can be marked with a picture of the contents of the box and an adult can help children select materials and open the containers.  You may be asking, "isn't a box full of stuff going to still create a mess if (when) they dump it out?"  Yes it will.  But the key here is to reduce the amount of the materials, not the variety.  There is no need to have 50 feathers, 50 googly eyes, and 50 pom poms in the container.  Ten of each would suffice if two or three children are working with the materials.  A "neat-freak" way of creating a collage with younger children can be achieved by placing a piece of clear contact paper sticky side up on the table and having children place objects on it. This avoids the use of glue for those (adults or children) who may not be ready for it.

If you are a classroom teacher or a parent and your children are older 3's or 4 years old they can handle more materials at the same time.  However,  once again,  it is not necessary to start the year with huge amounts of materials accessible.  I observed one classroom teacher introducing materials by type each week.  The first week of school drawing materials including crayons, markers, chalk, and a large variety of paper types were freely accessible all day every day.  Most children are familiar with these and it doesn't take long to move on to another material.

The next week she introduced collage materials, including stickers, feathers, pom poms, cotton balls, yarn, tissue paper, and glue sticks as well as glue bottles. Remember that a large amount of materials do not need to be out. Materials can always be added to as needed if more children want to join in or a child wants more to achieve their "masterpiece."

Tools including scissors and hole punches were introduced with close supervision and instruction.

Rolling out play dough "snakes" to practice cutting into pieces is a good way to start. Less frustration for everyone!

As the school year progressed she introduced more materials and each type of paint had it's own week or longer if needed.  By the time the first nine weeks of school were completed, the children had been introduced to the materials and given instructions on the proper use of them. Seemed like a great way to do it!

Bottom line,  don't be afraid of the combination of art materials and young children.  It may be messy but it is so worth it for children to have the opportunity for expression through art.

That's it for now.

Check back later!