Kids Art Supplies on a Budget

When we welcome folks onto our mailing list we ask them the following question:

What’s the ONE THING that’s holding you back from living the creative life or raising the creative family you dream of?

And while we do get a variety of answers, one of the most common is:

MONEY.

That’s a tricky one, right? A families finances are a delicate, and personal, thing. There’s no way we can give you more money, though how awesome would that be!? And we also can’t really guide you on finding more available funds within your budget. I know personally, if I hear one more person tell me what I’ll be able to afford just by eliminating my latte, I’ll scream!!

But what we can do is offer you some guidance on gathering some art supply basics, at a variety of budgets, that will get you started creatively. What we can do is assure you that being creative doesn’t require fancy supplies or DIY kits, or even a LOT of money. What we can do is offer you project inspiration, even with a set of limited (or very limited) creative tools.

Does that sound like it’ll help? I hope so! Let’s get started with the basics if your art supply budget is $10 or less.

All you need are supplies to make marks and somewhere to put those marks!

Supplies for Making Marks

Markers – $2.49
If your budget is lean, choose markers. They’re more saturated and vibrant than crayons, so they pack a bit more punch!

Watercolors – $2.99
Being able to paint is always a hit! Those watercolor cakes of our youth are just as good now as when we used them.

Something to Make Marks On

This is where you’ll have to be resourceful. With a limited budget, you won’t want to use a cent on paper. Scour your recycling bin. The backside of office paper, cut up cereal boxes or corrugated cardboard, these are all great surfaces for making your marks!

Something to Re-Mix Those Marks

Scissors – $2.19
Scissors give you the opportunity to cut up and use various found materials in new art-making ways! Old magazines from the recycling bin can be cut up into collages, watercolor paintings can be cut and re-assembled in a new way.

Glue stick – $2.88
Once you’ve done all that cutting, you’re going to need a way to put it all together. For limited budgets, glue sticks are my favorite. They won’t curl your paper the way liquid glue sometimes does. They’re also super-easy for little hands. Just make sure to put that cap back on!

So, there you have it! For just $10.55, you have a basic set of creative tools. Not too shabby, eh? So now to make good on my other promise, showing you that you can make amazing things, even with a sparse set of tools. Here are three ideas to get you started!

Go Make Something

Here are a few projects you can make using just the tools listed above!

Make A Mark
Watercolor Snowscapes
Paper Towel Art

Ok! So, let’s say that you have a bit more of a budget than just $10. Great! Here’s a list of our favorite creative basics if you’ve got a bit more to work with. Let’s move beyond the bare necessities to add a bit more variety!

Supplies for Making Marks

Markers – $2.49
Watercolors – $2.99
Crayons – $2.89
With a little more room in the budget, a box of crayons is a nice thing to have on hand.

Something to Make Marks On

Watercolor Paper – $6.79
While it is easy to find and use a multitude of re-purposed papers for making marks, something sturdy enough to handle watercolors well is hard to come by. Watercolor paper is a big ticket item, but so worth it for those special pieces.

Something to Re-Mix Those Marks

Scissors – $2.19
Glue stick – $2.88
Liquid Glue – $3.49
Tape – $1.59

For just $25.31, you have a more-than-basic set of creative tools. Pretty cool! You can, of course, make the projects at the $10 level. But here’s a few more that you can tackle as well!

Go Make Something

Here are a few more projects you can make using just the tools listed above!

Tesselations for Kids
Crayon Resist with Watercolor
Nature Friends Collage

This last list is sort of our ultimate creative basics list. If you’ve got a budget of about $100, you can get setup with some darn-fine basics – and a few splurge items – for a whole whack of creativity! Build your creative supply collection around the basics and throw in a few splurge items to take creativity to a new level!

Supplies for Making Marks

Markers – $2.49
Liquid Watercolors – $11.44
Crayons – $2.89
Tempera Paint - $6.47
Paintbrushes – $5.52

At this level we upgraded the watercolors from cakes to liquid – liquid watercolors are just so vibrant and versatile! We also added in a set of paintbrushes, for making a wide-variety of marks.

Something to Make Marks On

Watercolor Paper – $9.68
Art Paper, 48″ x 50′ Roll – $18.36
Tissue Paper - $7.93
Construction Paper – $7.33

With more room in the budget, you can spend more on paper! The big roll of art paper opens you up to a variety making BIG which really appeals to little ones. Tissue paper and construction paper are also lovely staples to have on hand, making it oh-so-easy to tackle a wider range of projects!

Something to Re-Mix Those Marks

Scissors – $2.19
Glue stick – $2.88
Liquid Glue – $3.49
Air Dry Clay – $9.85
Mod Podge – $6.97
Tape – $3.99
Googly Eyes - $2.20

Here we added a few of our favorite fun items – air dry clay and googly eyes! We also added more tools for sticking – mod podge and tape – these additions will really creatively open your little ones up to whole new worlds of making!

For $99.69, you have a truly comprehensive set of creative tools. More than enough variety to tackle a good range of projects, while also being simple enough to allow for basic process-based art!

Go Make Something

Here are a few more projects you can make using just the tools listed above!

Glowing Lantern
Clay Leaf Bowls
Tie-Dye Tissue Paper

So those are our recommendations – tell us, if you had a $100 art supplies budget for your little ones, what would you include? What’s your current art supply budget like? Any tips you have to share? We can’t wait to hear!

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