Top 5 Art Supplies for Babies, Toddlers and Young Preschoolers!

 

       Are you wondering how to introduce art to little-ones without the mess and less than 5 minute set-ups?

Here are the "Top 5 Art Supplies for Babies, Toddlers and Young Preschoolers" for hours of exploration and fun!

1. Tempera Paint Sticks

These are amazing for all ages! It is a really fun and no mess way to introduce your little ones into a material more interesting than a regular crayon. I ordered these and reordered them a million times for my kiddos. Now in the studio, these are one of our younger students favorites.

2. Big interesting stickers and post-its for younger babies!

You can never go wrong with stickers! Extra Tip #1: if you have a child that is still learning to peel them, peel the back of the stickers and get them as big as you can. Extra Tip #2: big post-its for babies and younger toddlers are way easier for them to handle! When my babies were too young for stickers, they loved experimenting with post-its. The best part is that unlike stickers, these can be reused a million times. They are perfect for plane and car rides!

3. Reuse your baby jars with water and food coloring.

For older kiddos, watercolors are a must, but for babies and younger toddlers that are still putting things in their mouth, these are perfect! Toddlers love pouring, so they will be entertained for hours. I forgot to add it in the picture, but make sure to always add a small rag in the tray that will help to catch any spills and stretch the activity because children love to clean!

I also use this activity for color theory with our older toddlers and preschooler students. Extra tip #1: start with only 1 or two colors, so that the water doesn't turn muddy within a minute, there is no need to get all the colors out at once. Extra Tip #2: Start with primary colors, for easier color recognition later on. To stretch the "independent play time" start with clear water and let them have fun pouring, when you hear the dreaded "I am done with this", add 2 primary colors and let them discover the colors they end up with.

4. Sketchpads , big and small; paper, cardboard and any other medium easy for you to recycle.

If you have more than 1 child, my favorite recommended size is an 11x17 sketchpad, because when open, is wide enough to reach both size of a kids size table for both kiddos to use at the same time. I also love small sketchpads for doctor visits, plane and car rides. I recommend a "white" background, no drawings because we don't want to limit their imagination. At this age, they are not learning to color within a drawing, they are exploring materials, working on their fine motor skills, coordination and learning cause and effect.

5. Trays, trays, more trays and baskets!

Want to make cleanup a breeze? Trays are not just to make things look pretty on Instagram, they are amazing for easy cleanup! I literally just take the above tray to the sink and rinse it out.

Baskets are helpful to keep all the materials together, so that they are not constantly asking for more tools.

If you are really worry about the mess, start outside, and definitely use the trays. Another tip is NOT to get all these materials out at once! Introduce the first one on a morning, next week try a different one, and so on. If they do the activity for 2 minutes and leave, don't put the materials away, they might come back to them later. Art exploration and independent play is a muscle, the more you do it at home, send them to classes or let them watch other kiddos, the more they will built to it. As always, remember it is not about the end result, it is about the process and the things we learn along the way and with these activities the children are learning so much!

I will post a second part to this, with more ideas for older preschoolers and kindergarteners. Did you try any? Let us know how it went! Have questions? email us at tinkeringheartsART@gmail.com

Tinkering Hearts

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