Art Supplies for Children and a Give-Away

While we live on a low budget, but simply in our modest home with our six children, we do provide them with quality art supplies when we are able to.

Starting as early as 18 months (depending on the child), children might be interested in coloring. For this age, I offer them beeswax crayons.
Beeswax crayons do not have petroleum in them, as most of the conventional crayons do. They are resistant to breakage and they provide smooth, even surface coverage in vibrant color.

By age 4 or so, children are ready to begin molding and while we do make up our own homemade play-dough, we also enjoy using modelling beeswax. With the beeswax, you can feel the comforting, smooth texture of the beeswax as you warm it and shape it with your hands.

Beginning at the preschool age, Ferby colored pencils, the thick style, are wonderful for drawing and shading. They provide a nice layer of color without having to press down hard and have a wonderful feel with their wooden barrel.

I tend to provide plain paper much more often than coloring books in the hopes to encourage creativity. At times, however, the children do request coloring books and I do see that the coloring books help with their fine motor skills and I have showed them how to shade with crayons.

Of course, no matter how tempting it may be to have a huge variety of art supplies, it is possible to purchase a small amount to start - for example a set of 8 beeswax crayons, a set of 10 or 12 modelling beeswax, a set of 8 pencils and then the three primary colors of the beautiful stockmar watercolor paints and a quality 3/4 inch paintbrush.

There are a variety of stores to find these - Paper, Scissors, Stone, Bella Luna Toys and A Child's Dream Come True.

Hip Mountain Mama is offering a giveaway of a wonderful set of natural art supplies. To enter her drawing visit her by clicking the picture below.