Get ready to start teaching your students drawing! It’s time to start stocking up on all the best children’s drawing art supplies for the school year. Getting back into the classroom to teach art means new fresh art materials and mediums.
Today I will be sharing my top children’s drawing art supplies I recommend to use when teaching drawing. I get excited when I start planning and getting these drawing mediums together and so will you!
But, maybe you don’t know what buy or get first? Follow me and read this guide on drawing art supplies and you will figure out what you want to start with.
You can use most for both early childhood and elementary grades. I tend to want my older grades to use those because they can take care of them a little better.
I use these art supplies year round and have compared them from brand to brand. You will be able to find these on my website to buy. Again I only list student grades that are safe and non-toxic.
Every one of these mediums can help children create drawings.
You might want to bring in a few at a time. But I recommend children at some point use them. These can teach art elements like line and shape.
Best Children’s Drawing Art Supplies
- Sketch pencils
- Crayons
- Color pencils
- Watercolor pencils
- Oil pastels
- Soft pastels
- Tempera drawing sticks
- Markers
Crayons [Square Blocks]
Crayons are great for teaching children lines, shading, and filling in solid shapes. Start with basic crayon shapes, round, odd shaped, and square block crayons. You should offer many different shapes of crayons . This is good for hand drawing practice and ergonomic strengthening.
Professional artists actually use crayons for sketching ideas, I do! Believe it or not, artists can create the most stunning drawings with basic crayons. You can even blend two primary colors to achieve a secondary color.
Crayons are a child’s first ever art supply. Because they’re non-toxic, come in many colors, and they are washable! And of course easy to find anywhere and cheap. If you follow my instagram or facebook, you’ll see I always have baskets of crayons available in my art spaces.
Do you want to learn more about drawing activties to do with chidlren? Download this Early Childhood Art Guide Book.BUY HERE.
Colour Blocks are like blocks and easy for children to use. Children love using big wide crayons! They can color maps quickly, make nice leaf rubbings, and cover large areas fast. Colour Blocks™ brand crayons come in an array of colors. The other great thing about these crayons, they last a long time, and are hard to break! Learn how you can make leaf rubbings with these crayons HERE.
Sketch Pencils
Start with getting a soft lead graphite pencil (3B, 4B, 5B, 6B) B stands for soft. If you think about a number 2 yellow pencil children do their writing, and math that’s called a 2H, H means hard. The difference between B and H, is H is hard to erase lines away. So start with a soft B type pencil. Early childhood students can use pencils and soft graphite also. Little children don’t have control of their grip usually, so soft leads make it easy to draw with. Other Art Materials For Doodling & Drawing
Color Pencils
When I started as a commercial graphic artist the most used medium in my art box was my color pencils. Color pencils work perfect for adding color to sketches.
Color pencils are inexpensive, and come in many hues. They also mix well with other mediums. Children can also create color value scales with them. And the other reason artists use them is you can add color without making a mess! Outdoor nature artists find it easier to color with than paints. Yep, that’s a big one. Color pencils are pigments, wax or oil. A great safe non-toxic art medium children can enjoy.
Children in Early Childhood
I recommend oil base color pencils for small hands, they glide easier than pure wax pencils. I also recommend wider color pencils for better grip. My favorite are short oil base color pencils for early childhood. You can buy these at my art store here: Store.EcoKidsArt.com
Children in Elementary
I recommend a variety of plain wax, and oil based colored pencils for elementary students. You can find color pencils in discount stores, and premium art supply stores.
There’s nothing wrong with starting with a cheap color pencil set. Children should try both types to see the difference in effects. Elementary students are old enough for full length pencils, and can use short ones too.
Color Choices
Be sure when you buy a set, there’s a good variety of natural colors. Take a look at my picture examples above. You can’t go wrong with buying lower grade color pencils, but you can go wrong with color choices!
Here’s the colors I recommend you start with:
- Green
- Blue
- Brown
- Red
- Yellow
- Purple
- Black
- Orange
Order Color Pencils HERE
How to buy color pencils
Oil Pastels
Oil pastels are a great medium for children to learn basic line drawing lessons. They are soft and easy to glide onto paper surfaces. Oil pastels are perfect for drawing bright bold colorful artworks. Oil Pastel artists use this medium because of its rich vibrant color selection.
Oil pastels look like crayons, but glide on paper surfaces oily. Oil pastels are a mix of non-drying oil, a wax binder and pigment. The finish is creamy and oily. Oil pastels can be very inexpensive, prices can range from $5.00 to $20.00, depending on colors and quantity count.
You can find these in most art stores in low to high grades. Note* Do not use professional artist grade, some colors have heavy metals. Use non-toxic student grades only with children under 12 years. Read more about oil pastels drawing rainforest animals HERE
Soft Pastels
Soft pastels are chalky and dusty, they work best on pastel paper or charcoal paper only. They look like chalk, but they are not. Pastels are great as a replacement for paint. They come in a variety of colors. Pastels are best for upper elementary because there are many steps to follow, and care for them.
Best for 8 years and up. Soft pastels come in many price points. Prices can range from $5.00 to $100.00 depending on colors and quantity count. Start with inexpensive and see how your students like using them. If they fall in love with them, then invest in a higher grade set.
Watercolor Pencils
Watercolor pencils work like traditional colored pencils, but can turn into paint. Watercolor pencils are water-soluble. Pigments dissolve and become translucent like watercolor paints when you add water. The pencil cores are soft and easy to make marks with. You can find them in inexpensive sets and also in premium artist grade sets. They also come in a wide range of color choices.
Markers
Elementary grade children love using markers. Children at these ages can learn how-to blend markers, plus how-to care for them as well.
- They are easy for children to travel with
- Markers make bold bright colors
- Dry instantly
- Marker sets come in a variety of 12 to 24 colors
- Cost range from $10.00 – $40.00
Read more on Drawing With Markers | Elementary Children
https://www.ecokidsart.com/drawing-with-markers-elementary-children/
Know you should have a good idea of what to buy. These are the best children’s drawing art supplies I use every year for all my drawing art lessons.
Tempera Paint Sticks
Tempera paint sticks are a new medium for young children. I have been using these with children for the last few years. I love using these to teach children how to draw lines. They are super easy to use. They are a stick of paint. Tempera paint sticks are easy for children to use. They glide super easy. The best thing about these paint sticks is they don’t smear or make a mess. A new drawing medium I recommend for early childhood!