Must Have Art Supplies for Preschoolers

Arts and crafts are huge in our household. I find myself often raiding our art supply cabinets and putting out a project or two for my three-year-old son. The following are art supplies that I never do without:

Paint:

Painting is a big hit for my son, and even his eleven-month-old brother can enjoy it. I'm always found to have many canisters of paint in the house, always stocked with the primary colors, especially, so my son can experiment with mixing. We tend to use mostly finger paints, but also enjoy washable tempera and watercolors. In order to enjoy many forms of painting, I've also got an incredible amount of paintbrushes (many different sizes) and paint sponges.

Dabber Dot Markers:

With paint inside, you're able to tip the dobber upside down and squeeze some paint out and onto the tip. Then you can paint. My son loves to draw circles and dots with his dobbers.

Watercolors:

Another form of paint, watercolors are so much fun. My son loves to see how his water begins to color and making his brush strokes on the paper.

Stamps:

My son also enjoys stamping. You can purchase washable stamp pads to use with stamps and paper.

Craft Sand:

Craft sand is another hit with my son. I buy large canisters of sand and then pour some into makeshift "shakers." You can use such things as plastic popcorn seasoning vials as well as the smaller plastic canisters that the individual ice tea cups come in. The popcorn seasoning vials already come with holes in the top and I simply place a small piece of tape over most of these holes and then allow my son to shake or pour his sand onto a piece of contact paper. Once he's done, the contact paper is covered in sand and I place it with tape onto our window where the light seeps through. I put tape on many of the holes to lessen the amount of sand that is poured at any given time. If you use the plastic ice tea canister, simply cut a couple small holes in the cover and you're good to go.

Play dough:

A staple in many households, for sure. We tend to use play dough with cookie cutters to make shapes and animals.

Moon Sand:

My son absolutely loves moon sand! It looks and feels like a thick, colored sand, and crumbles as such. You can press the moon sand into molds and build various objects, but watch out...if you touch it too hard, it'll deform in your hand. My son tends to need a bit of help with the molds simply because he doesn't press hard enough for the sand to stick together well enough, but he can literally play with moon sand for an hour and not tire of it.

Pipe Cleaners:

Pipe cleaners are great to use with little fingers when they're learning how to manipulate such things as beads and macaroni to make necklaces and bracelets. Pipe cleaners are rather stiff as opposed to flimsy string or yarn, and therefor, easier for my son to succeed when beading.

Glitter Glue:

Another staple in our home, I tend to take out the glitter glue on a rainy day when we're stuck indoors. My son enjoys squeezing the tube and watching it dribble onto his paper.

Crayons, Markers, Scissors and Glue:

Crayons and markers are great to have in the house for my son to color with and I've recently introduced him to glue sticks and children's scissors, too. We'll cut out various shapes and he'll glue them to construction paper.

Construction Paper:

We're stocked with both the 9" by 12" and the 12" by 18" paper to use for cutting, painting, coloring, and other crafts.

My elder son absolutely adores his arts and crafts and it seems that his younger brother may follow his footsteps in this regard. Arts are always wonderful to take out on a rainy day or during a snowstorm when you can't enjoy the outdoors. Great, too, for preschool play dates!