Anyone who knows me knows that I love my crafts (my home office doubles as a craft room). Since my bean was old enough to hold a paintbrush or crayon, we’ve been creating things (and memories) together. So here are the 10 craft supplies you need right now:
Easel. Nothing fancy. In fact, I bought mine off of a friend and store it outside. It makes painting, drawing, and more all the easier.
Crayon/marker bin. Forget keeping them in neat little rows in the boxes (because that isn’t going to happen) – instead, buy a bin with a snap-on lid at the dollar store and fill it with crayons, markers, and coloured pencils for quick and easy access.
Finger painting paper. No, not regular paper (little fingers and hands don’t glide as well on that) – you want the glossy finger paint paper they sell in craft stores. Elmer and Melissa & Doug make great ones.
Washable paint. The dollar store crafting paint will not come out of clothes, so spend a bit more on the washable kind (like the line of paints from Crayola). You’ll be glad you did.
Foam shapes. These can be found just about anywhere (Dollarama, Walmart, Michaels) and can be used on just about anything. We’ve bought animal shapes, sports shapes, letters and numbers, and we’ve affixed them to paper, cards, small boxes, cardboard tubes, and more.
Funky-edged scissors. I got lucky and found a Lazy Susan set of different edged scissors (intended for scrapbooking) at a rummage sale for $15 (for 20 pairs!), but a few zigzag or curly-cue scissors are fun for a myriad of projects.
Playdoh. Every kid should have Playdoh (even though I wasn’t allowed to play with it in the house when I was little). It can be used with all sorts of fun tools, and for certain mini sculptures you want to hold on to, you can by letting it dry out.
Glitter glue pens. Sounds like a nightmare, but works like a charm! It can be used to embellish a project or, as it is intended, to glue things. They’re pretty much mess-free and washable too.
School glue. I taught my toddler a little bit of self control by giving him some pompoms and a bottle of Elmer’s school glue when he was 2. He took his time and put little drops on each puff to stick it onto cardstock. Since then we’ve moved onto bigger projects, and we even use it for other things, like watering it down for papier mache projects.
Stencils. I’m amazed by these modern-day kids who find joy in the simple things… like stencils. My son loves the challenge of tracing different shapes. We even play with a miniature spirograph he got as a gift for his last birthday – lots of fun!
A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with Suburban readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.
