Top Art Supplies for the Elementary Art Room (Update!)

 

I've updated my top 20 list, and added to it! 
Here's my list of my most favorite and best art supplies, that I have used over my 20 year career in art education! I know when I first started out, I really needed a list like this! Also, students ask, "Where can you get this??" So, I decided to compile a list of my fave supplies to share with you folks at home. If you have more to add to the list, feel free to leave your suggestions!
For a more detailed product description, click on the links below to see Amazon's info about them!

2nd grade cardboard castle prints

This week in art class, our amazing 2nd graders studied the colorful, geometric work of Swiss-German artist Paul Klee— especially his painting “Castle and Sun.” Klee loved using shapes, color, and imagination to build dreamy cities and abstract scenes.

Take a look at his original masterpiece below:

Paul Klee, “Castle and Sun,” 1928

Sweet Treats & Bold Colors: Wayne Thiebaud-Inspired Ice Cream Art

This week in our elementary art room, we dove into the colorful world of Wayne Thiebaud, an American artist known for his whimsical, dessert-themed paintings full of rich color, bold shadows, and delicious detail. Our young artists created their own vibrant ice cream cone drawings using oil pastels on black construction paper, and the results are as sweet as the inspiration!

This lesson came from the fabulous art teacher Joel Scholten! You can download his ice cream templates here!  

Chris Uphues & Jen Stark inspired Valentine’s Art!

Today, 4th grade learned about the artists Chris Uphues and Jen Stark! We looked at examples of their art, and got to work on our own! This project came from The Busy Brushes, and came in handy for Valentine’s Day! 

4th grade Yayoi Kusama Pumkin Collage

This fall, 4th grade created some Yayoi Kusama inspired pumpkin collages! 

I taught this to 4th grade, and then dressed up as Yayoi Kusama for storybook character day. It was fun seeing the 4th graders light up and recognize who I was when I walked through the halls, that day! 

We studied the art of Kusama, learned about her career and life from this Tate Museum video.

Here's what supplies you need

Tru ray Sulphite paper

Sharpie markers

scissors

pencils

glue sticks

Then I demonstrated how to create our own!

Youtube Lauren Stacey Art :) 

5th grade Ring Pops

 

5th grade created these ring pops a couple of years ago, and it's been a staple for them in my curriculum, ever since! I got the idea from Katie Gray (@howgraythouart) on Instagram, and knew my students would enjoy this one! Let me tell you, they sure did! It' doesn't take a lot of complicated things either, so I was able to do it in my portable (that didn't have a sink for two years) 

Here's what supplies we used! 

Student watercolor paper

Crayola Markers 

Big kid's choice brushes

Neon tempera paint

Tru Ray paper

Ring Pops

I'm also going to get them ring pops while they work!

Here's a video showing each step, if you want to follow along with us! 

Jim Dine Inspired Tissue Paper Hearts

 Soon, 3rd grade will start this fun and colorful project inspired by the artist Jim Dine, and the amazing elementary art LauraLee Chambers. (Btw, You can find her on instagram at 2art.chambers)

Here’s the materials you need

90lb paper

Bleeding tissue paper

Paintbrushes 

Paint sticks

Oil pastels

Day 1: We’ll look at images of Jim Dine’s art, and create our tissue paper background. 

Day 2: We’ll make the heart by fold some scrap paper, tracing it onto the background, and coloring it with paint sticks and pastels!

Here’s the full video tutorial on YouTube!