When Ella was little, it felt like every Friday we were painting on the patio and having a “Friday Art Class” of some sort. She was always really into stuff like that. Olive hasn’t been as into art as much as Ella was so I’ve slacked a little, but recently she’s been asking to paint when Ella does. I love making and creating in our house. While I strongly dislike clutter, creative supplies are necessary to make a good mess which I’m ok with… especially when it’s an artistic one.
So I went through and picked a few of my favorite craft kits, books, and supplies that will keep toddlers to teenagers busy! And my hope is to implement Friday Art Classes again — and mixing in Art Studios from around Indy into this fun feature. For now, it’s time to stock the craft cabinets and get those creative juices flowing with these inspirational finds…
BOOKS
Tinkerlab : A Hands-On Guide for Little Inventors
Have you heard of Rachel yet? Ok, you need to so here we go. She is an art educator that now gives back by offering families easy ways to support creativity at home. She’s passionate about bringing arts education to as many children as possible, so she created TinkerLab. And it’s wonderful. She also has a facebook page you can join and share on. But it’s all about being creative at home and she helps you with that!
It also looks like she might have some new up her sleeve with School House, so make sure to get on that list now!
Play. Make. Create, A Process Art Handbook
If you follow me on IG, you’ve probably recently seen me share about this amazing Art Studio in LA. Well, the amazing Meri Cherry has a book coming out and it’s available now! I got mine yesterday and I’m so excited — I can’t wait to use this as inspiration for our Friday Art Lessons and pick projects like paint your family photos and cotton swab oil paintings! So much fun is in store with this book at hand! You’ll need lots of creative supplies for this one!
Art Workshops for Children
A little quirky, but who doesn’t love a little out of the ordinary when it comes to art? From Herve Tullet, a french artist, this book intrigues me with the Big Traffic Jam and The Magic Dice workshops that allow for imaginations to lead the way.
Beautiful Oops
If you haven’t read this one yet, it’s sure to become a quick favorite. Ella came home from school and told me all about this book. She remembered almost every page of it after reading it in her school class one time. Then we went to the art museum and they had it in the Star Studio and she was hell-bent on heading home with it that day. But the gift shop didn’t carry it so we ordered it on Amazon before we left the parking lot. It’s a beautifully done picture book that gets your kids thinking about how mistakes can lead to something quite unexpected. A perfect bedtime read.
CRAFT KITS
See a few of our favorite craft kits for the summer. Some we have, but some we are going to order as soon as we finish the first ones. We’ve done bouncy balls in the past which were great fun and super easy. Chain reactions has our eye and has since before the holidays. I’ve been making notes on string art and this unicorn one is sure to be a hit for Ella’s room. And anything fairies has me sparkling! These are perfect creative supplies to get us through summer! Which is your favorite?
Craft Tastic Unicorn String Art
Fairy Nightlight Lantern Craft Kit
CRAFT SUPPLIES
And lastly, supplies…
Craft time is no fun if you don’t have a drawer/closet/room stocked to the brim with pipe cleaners, googly eyes, craft paper, buttons, string, scissors, pom poms, etc… Here are my favorite boxes to easily stock up without having to purchase everything separately. BUT if you want to curate your own creative supplies for your drawer, Michael’s , Hobby Lobby , and United Arts & Education come in for the win!
Made Modern Arts & Crafts Library Set
So there’s my picks to get your own Friday Art Lessons started if you wanted to! I did order a few of these to stock up the craft closet while Ella is away so when she gets back she can’t tell me she’s bored! There’s always time to create!
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