Comments on: Creative Art Materials

By: soulemama

soulemama — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 14:55:51 +0000

Good point Emily– but ‘quality materials’ doesn’t necesarily mean ‘expensive’! We buy most of our art supplies at thrift stores, yard sales, or from local art shops and schools getting rid of surplus. It takes a bit of extra effort, but I think it’s worth it!

By: Emily S.

Emily S. — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 00:47:55 +0000

These are all wonderful ideas! I wish to comment about the “splurge on quality materials” thought. Many, many people can not splurge on materials, will never be able to purchase things at an art shop. I have yet to hear of a child (or adult) who’s creativity is either stifled, incorrectly fed and grown or misled by poor quality materials. A pencil. A pen or watercolors from a grocery store. Chalk, markers or colored pencils from a dollar store. Newsprint tablets, copy/printer paper or the back of used envelopes. Whatever you have, use them and enjoy them!

By: admin

admin — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 02:54:22 +0000

great ideas

By: mav

mav — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 03:00:27 +0000

i used to just use chalk.
either on the sidewalk or on my easel …
i love these ideas and will remember them.
great post!

By: Anamaria

Anamaria — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 02:32:40 +0000

All of those places! And my scrap basket, of course. I keep a scrap basket for Leo, and even though it can be hard for me to let go of bits of ribbon and trimmings, I love to see what he comes up with (clothes for his stuffed animals; clothespin dolls; fabric collages; and my favorite, a series of portraits we made using collage materials–I’ll have to post pictures of those!).

By: rebecca

rebecca — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 02:02:56 +0000

when i was little my dad worked for a utility company. all the offices in the building dumped their recycling (regular paper only) into *huge* boxes (or they seemed that way to me). i was allowed to literally climb inside them and pick out the paper i wanted to take home to make things with. i think we had so much at home that it was still used as scratch paper around the house until well after i moved out. dad’s job was also good for the pretty-colored telephone wire and huge huge table sized wooden spools.

in the slightly more adult world (but the same general direction) boeing surplus is a lot of fun if you happen to be in the northwest. dumpsters near ad-agencies for paper sample books :) etc.

By: Renata

Renata — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 01:21:14 +0000

As a former child crafter, I’d say the recycled paper bin. I’d get out old paper and make collages. Especially out of Sierra Club calendars, those are the best!

By: kyrie

kyrie — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 00:46:28 +0000

these are three fantastic ideas! when i was teaching preschool, we would have ‘art saturdays’ when i would have the kids bring in things from their house (again, the recycle bin) or backyard (again, nature) and we would have a heyday. sometimes it’s even more fun to use something new to you. this would be a fun kids’ party idea, too.

here in portland we have a great place called scrap (i think there is something similar in san fransisco?) that is the same idea, on a bigger, grown-up (yet still very thrifty) scale.

the thrift shop is a great place to find unusual art supplies, too!