I think so many of us moms WANT our children to be creative and to help them do fun stuff, but are at a loss on where to start! If you follow me on IG, you know my toddler just about constantly has a drawing material in her hand. She is definitely an art teachers daughter. Even hugs her crayons. 🤣 I started introducing paint as soon as she was good at tummy time, and drawing materials as soon as she could sit up on her own. She has this paper roll holder we keep near the kitchen for her to draw at whenever she likes, and she needs a new piece rolled down at least once a day! Today I wanted to share my favorite art supplies for toddlers, and what I like about them.
I think it is really important that we provide our children with opportunities for art making as well as encourage them to do it. As toddlers, they will be most interested in exploring the boundaries of their materials, but you will amazed at how quickly they become comfortable with the different languages of art! I also love that toddlers do need supervision when creating. This gives us the opportunity to observe our children and really talk to them. If we start this practice of art-making early, when they need supervision, we set up the expectation for both ourselves and our children that art making can be an opportunity to connect to ourselves and others.
Please note this post contains amazon affiliate links because I am an amazon affiliate (see full Amazon Affiliate disclosure at end of blog post).
Painting
Painting always sounds like it will be such a fun idea but boy is it a mess, right? My advice is to accept the fact that it will be a mess, and set yourself up with some successful parameters. So, if you really hate the mess, maybe your toddler needs to sit in an empty bathtub when they paint, so they can be bathed right after. Or maybe at your house it is an outdoor-only activity. Maybe you just want them in a smock and sitting at their high chair or activity table. The point is, you will be stressed out about it if you don’t think through what you are comfortable with. If you know your own parameters, you can help your toddler be more successful.
Toddlers will be mostly interested in the sensory aspects of paint. They want to push the paint and mix the colors, not necessarily translate images from their head. Some kids will want to use their hands, some will freak out if it touches their hands. Encourage them by commenting objectively on what you see them doing. “Oh, I see you have red paint on your brush! Did you see how the red turned to orange when you passed your red brush over the yellow? How does the paint feel on your hands? Is is slimy?” For more advice on how to engage your child in their art making, click here. Otherwise, read on for my actual favorite products!
Best smock
IKEA actually makes a good baby and childrens smock (pictured above when Emme is about 10 months old). My favorite are these bumpkins smocks for 6-24 mo though (mainly because they have cuter patterns). If you have a 3-5 year old, use these smocks instead!
Best Paint
This is a loaded question since there are lots of different kinds of paint and again, you have to know what kind of mess you are comfortable with. Always go with non-toxic. Your child is bound to try to eat it at some point so save yourself the stress! Crayola makes non-toxic project paint that is fine, but I prefer Blick tempera paint. I actually really like tempera cakes the most because you just use a wet brush to get paint off of them. Tempera cakes are less messy IMO. They have a consistency between watercolor and regular tempera depending on how much water you add to the cake. They last a long time, too!
If you want watercolor paint, do cake palettes or liquid. If you use liquid, offer one color at a time in a small jar with supervision! Note that it is concentrated, so you can add water to it in the cup! In general when painting, the less “moving parts” you have, the easier it will be for both of you (and less mess). Tape paper down and only offer small quantities of paint.
Best brushes/cups
This will once again depend on what kind of paint you are using, but we are talking acrylic or tempera paint that can be poured, I recommend these cups. They help contain some of the mess, and you can help your toddler to see that each brush has its own home. I would start them with just one or two colors at first. The cups come with their own brushes! For other brushes, just get something that works for the type of paint you are using. You don’t have to get any special toddler brushes. Toddlers can use regular adult brushes just fine!
Drawing
Drawing is Emme’s favorite. And lucky for us adults, Crayola has smarted up and now produces “ultra-washable” drawing materials. I will link my favorites of those for toddlers as well as some other products I consider a little more high-quality. I have also gotten quite a few Japanese drawing materials here, which have been nice. But truthfully, at this age–you can’t beat ultra-washable.
Markers
My favorite Crayola products are just good old fashioned ultra-washable markers. They really do wipe off most surfaces with basically a wet cloth. Emme also drew on our sofa with them (🤦🏼♀️) and they came out easily. Crayola also makes color-wonder magic markers, which only produce color on a special kind of paper. The problem with those is that there is a small delay between when the mark is made and the color appears. They aren’t quite as satisfying as a traditional marker. These are what I give Emme when I can’t supervise her though. She almost always has access to some at her weaning table throughout the day. She gets the color-wow unsupervised so I know she isn’t drawing on the walls because they don’t work on walls. You can get all sorts of different packs with paper, and you need the special paper for them to work. Some of them are more coloring-page style with themes like Toy Story, Peppa Pig, Baby Sharks, etc. This stow-and-go set would be great for a car!
Crayons
I also love letting Emme draw with crayons because they are a childhood staple. I like thicker crayons for toddlers. The normal, thinner crayons Emme likes to break the tips off of. lol. The ultra washable crayons from crayola are okay, but can be hard to get good marks from. I prefer the way these Faber-Castell beeswax crayons make marks. The most satisfying crayons are gel crayons though! Ooly makes my favorite (seen in the featured image and above image of this post) but Faber-Castell also makes them! The tricky thing with gel crayons is that they are SO soft and smooth, toddlers can run through them quickly with the pressure they apply. But they are really, really nice to play with! The Ooly brand are also water soluble so you can give your toddler a wet brush to play with after they draw with them! Faber-Castell has these very beautiful water-soluble ones, which I love too! We really do have all of these art supplies at my house, LOL!
Clay and Doughs
Playdough is a household favorite over here, and there are lots of good taste-safe recipes out there. We liked this two-ingredient strawberry yogurt playdough when she was little. Emme has played with different playdoughs enough since she was a baby that she knows they are not for eating. She uses the traditional in a plastic cup playdough now which is hard to beat if you don’t mind the weird smell. If you do mind the smell, pick an essential oil scented recipe from Pinterest! They usually keep well if stored properly. Same rule of only giving them a few colors at a time to reduce overwhelm for both of you applies.
The next thing I would recommend is model magic. Model Magic is fun because your creations can actually dry! Then they can be colored with markers after or even during. A step above this would be the actual air dry clay. This has a consistency closer to artists clay and will dry in a bisque-like texture. The finished piece will be hard but fragile and can be painted! The difference between model magic and air dry is the weight, texture, and consistency. Model magic is light, soft, and more “whole.”
Other art supplies and resources
The other thing that is kind of an art material that I REALLY recommend are the water-wow books! Melissa and Doug make very inexpensive ones. Children love them and they are mess free, the brush is just filled with water. All of these materials offer your children the opportunity to experience the languages of art making. Eventually, they will become more proficient with materials and as they grow older you will be just amazed at the way they work with them! What is your child’s favorite art material?
