nurturing young artists: art supplies part one

 

I’ve always been drawn to quality goods. Does anyone else inevitably pick out the most expensive item when shopping? At times that high price tag doesn’t actually equate to high quality, but our family has learned that investing in quality items is a good method of stewardship over the long haul. We can apply this to nurturing a love for art in our children through purchasing select, quality art supplies.

Why spend the extra money on art supplies for kids? Often as adults we are very product oriented. Our kids, however, are thankfully more process oriented, and working with quality materials allows them to enjoy that process more – it allows them a richer sensory experience, and it doesn’t hurt the product either. On the contrary, artwork will be more pleasing to the eye when created with nice materials, and your kids will notice the difference.

Below are a few of our tried and true art supplies. We keep them within reach so that the kids don’t have to request or schedule in art time, but can grab materials when they feel inspired.

 

Rock Crayons, by Clementine Art

These fun crayons, made of natural ingredients, are cheerful and inviting to children, and striking on paper. They’re also fairly affordable – a great birthday gift for a little (or big) friend.

 

Lyra Pencil Crayons

A staple in our home for years, Lyra makes the bees knees of pencil crayons! Ours are going on strong at about four years now. These pencil crayons are not only work horses that won’t break like regular pencil crayons, but go on the paper velvety smooth in such a delightful way. Kids love the feel of colouring with them, and the triangular shape makes them super easy for tiny hands to hold.

We keep ours in a pencil roll that I made a long time ago, which makes them easy to grab and go for outings and art sessions in the backyard or car. I dare say that these pencil crayons have been on more adventures than many people, including trips across and out of country!

Lyra also makes a wonderful set of skin tone pencil crayons. After years of cringing when the kids asked for a “skin-colour” pencil crayon, I was overjoyed to find this set in a lovely toy store in Berkeley. Now my kids are exploring a diversity of skin tones, as well as practicing shading on faces.

 

 

Wooden Marker Stand

For quite a while as a new parent, I fought against markers. I loved our natural art supplies and just didn’t think that Crayola markers fit. Maybe I thought that if the kids had access to these bright, cool, markers, they’d abandon the finer supplies we have, and not look back.

How wrong I was. We found this awesome wooden marker stand, filled it with these smaller crayola markers, and because of this nifty organizer, we’ve managed to only purchase new markers when they run out, rather than when they get lost. The kids are truly thoughtful and selective in their choice between marker, pencil crayon, paint or crayon, depending on the project at hand. I guess this is all to say, while I love providing high quality supplies, there is a place for mainstream materials like good old Crayola markers. Especially if you can find or make a handy marker stand.

 

 

 

Please note: All links leading to Amazon are through their affiliate program. I do receive a small amount of compensation for products purchased through my site, which I will gratefully use toward our homeschool supplies and expenses. I will only recommend products that we use in our own home and love, or hope to love in our home soon.