About two years ago I got some vinyl communal kid-sized aprons for use in the classroom. They are all red for a reason, with Velcro rather than ties - less time fussing over them! I keep them all bunched up in a plastic basket and wash them in our school machine when they get pretty messy. Kids are always welcome to bring in their own art shirts, but plenty make use of the communal aprons.
Paint
Watercolor
- My go-to. For my purposes, this is the easiest paint to use. I pop out the paint from their long cases for easy replacement of colors and so that paint water doesn't pool in the cracks of the case. Two kids can share one, and when someone inevitably dirties the colors, they are easily rinsed out under the sink (I let the second graders do this themselves).
- I instruct students to "tickle" these with water to get them to work, not "scoop the goop." There shouldn't be thick shiny areas.
- Easy ways to use this include on its own (use decently thick paper or true watercolor paper to avoid rippling), with crayons as a resist, with sharpie or black crayon line drawings.
Liquid Tempera
- I like these for painting 3D works and non-detailed 2D art. I put it into plastic egg cartons that I keep all cycle long, then I toss them at the end when they are thick, muddy, and I pat myself on the back since I don't have to wash palettes. Be careful of kids getting too thick with the paint - it will crack.
- When cleaning brushes, I tell the students to "push" their brush against the bottom of the water bucket, then wipe, wipe, wipe - not tap, tap, tap.
Biggie Tempera Cakes
- These are sort of the best of both worlds between watercolor and liquid tempera. They still work with plain water, but are a bit thicker than watercolor. The cakes tend to break down and crumble the longer they are used class after class. These are nice because they offer white for blending.
- I have used these with tints and shades mixing, primary color mixing, and tape resist.
What I don't use
- I stay away from anything that isn't washable and anything that smells overly funny. Even if it says non-toxic, it just makes me feel strange for a paint to have too much of an odor. I also keep acrylics in the room for use for school decor projects, but not for students - it's just not washable enough for the little ones.
Clay
Earthenware (low-fire clay)
- I'm lucky to have a kiln at my school, so for projects that I want to be most durable, most easily workable, and with the most technical education behind it, I use real earthenware clay. I use red, simply because that is what was started in my room before me. It is useful, though, because it is easily distinguishable from the air-dry clay, which is light gray.
- I like to have students make texture pieces from this, as well as small sculptures.
- This does stain, however, so I try to really enforce an art shirt or apron rule.
Air-dry clay
- This is the first year I have tried this. For the most part I like it, but it is far more fragile than the real earthenware. I do love that it stays wet well when wrapped in plastic, and the texture/moisture is good. I think the fastest the works can dry is over a night or two if left out with good air flow. My class works had a week of dry time, all piled up in a vented cabinet and they were good to go. I make a demonstration on gluing pieces back on part of the regular instruction before painting. Most had to glue something.
- I used the Marblex brand, and their customer service was really good when I called to get information about any allergy concerns. No food by-products or latex for your information.
- I do make a point to wash any rags at the end of each day because they get pretty saturated with clay mush, and if it dries, I don't know how to get it out of fabric.
- I used this to make pinch pot creatures.
Model Magic
- I just love this stuff. It's light, super easy clean up, sticks to itself, comes in various colors, can be mixed to make other colors, and you can still teach traditional ceramic techniques with it like rolling coils or making pinch pots.
- Unlike Play-Doh, this contains no gluten, so it is a better allergy-avoiding product.
- I love having the kindergartners make mini 3D food with these, and I used this to have first graders make thumb mice this year.
What I don't use
- I don't use Play-Doh, because I have 700 students and would rather not keep track of who can use it or not.
- I also don't use high fire clay because I don't want to spend that much time firing.
- I also haven't gotten into glazes. The students will use these in 3rd grade, which introduces a fun new concept to them. For what we make, paint finishes the surface just fine without me having to wipe dozens of sculpture bottoms or salvage kiln shelves. This also greatly reduces the firing time.
Drawing
With all of these I keep a handful or two in a 3-compartment caddy that matches table colors, then store the rest in big bins in cabinets.
Pencils
- I keep communal pencils on each table (regular school-issued style, at least 8 per table so I don't have to deal with sharpening anything during class) with big latex-free erasers in each cup (pencil erasers are gone within a day). I sharpen these in my electric sharpener every so often (kids are not allowed to use this in my room).
Colored Pencils
- I have tons of these, but the kids are not that into them. I keep them around, and they work well for details. Students get excited about metallic colors, but that's about it. I don't have any projects that specifically call for their use.
Markers
- The kids are all over these - they love them. They are pretty good about putting caps back on, but I do have a drawer full of caps for when one goes missing.
- Crayola does a marker recycling program as of writing this that I take full advantage of by collecting used markers from all around the school.
Crayons
- I generally use the regular "skinny" style, even with the younger kids. I like the multicultural crayons for offering lots of skin tone options, and sometimes I keep black and white crayons separate for specific projects like making pencil lines bold or making snowflakes on colored paper.
What I don't use
- I don't bother with traditional drawing pencils - these kids are still getting their own pencil pressure under control.
- I also don't use inks - not washable.
Printmaking
Monoprint trays
- I ordered some plastic trays that I have students put tempera or printing inks on with brayers. They can then pull away color with cotton swabs.They have made some nice results.
Fingerprints
- There are so many options out there for projects that use fingerprints, and my favorite way of "inking up" fingers is by using a sandwich of plastic lid, tempera paint, and felt on top. This makes a great homemade stamp pad.
Textured Rollers
- These are fun sponge rollers that have 3D patterns on them. When rolled in paint, then rolled on paper, they can make a great start to projects or nice layers. I also like the little round sponge paint daubers for the same reason.
Additional Media
Weaving
- With the youngest ones, I like weaving paper to get them to understand the basic method. With kindergarten, I use just plain construction paper.
- With first grade, I like having them paint big papers that get cut into strips and shuffling them around so everyone in the class gets a piece of everyone else's painting to weave together.
- My favorite project for second grade is circular weaving on a thick paper plate. There are good resources out there for seeing this step by step.
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