Top 5 Back to School Art Supplies
Here are my top 5 art supply purchases for the 2026-2027 school year. These are great for art teachers, after school program leaders, and homeschool parents. Endless creative possibilities with these items. Read on for my purchases along with projects you can create with these items. Please note, nothing is sponsored - these are all things I actually like, buy, and use.
THE LIST:
Tape (see my post about tape)
Canvases (one per kid)
Glitter Glue (I know, I know, I'm anti-glitter, but this is a loophole)
Tempera Sticks (Fun and washable for the whole family)
Foam Air Dry Clay (this is how I can learn to love clay again)
BONUS - Yarn (but you might not have to buy this one)
TAPE
I've said it before and I'll say it again, kids love tape. Every adult I know has to hide their tape from someone in their classroom or family. I used to be this way too, but one year I learned that I should embrace this interest and encourage it. Kids can be extremely creative when you give them a pile of any items plus masking tape. Let them imagine and explore.
Aside from masking tapes many uses (in found-object or recycled-item construction and paper maché) I like to use packing tape, as well, for a lot of fun projects. One involves making stickers out of the clear plastic tape and the other is using the packing tape for image transfers.
When I make stickers with the kids using packing tape, the easiest option is to draw directly on the tape with a sharpie or other permanent marker. If you want to make it easier on the kids, they can draw small pictures on paper first. Then they cut out the picture and cover it with a piece of tape. The tape should hang over the edges of the drawing. Then place the tape on another piece of tape so that the sticky side of tape #1 hits the non-sticky side of tape #2. You with me? Then the sticker can be stuck wherever the kid wishes.
CANVAS
Lately, I've been saving my memories, ie movie ticket stubs, fun stickers, postcards, etc., by collaging them on to a large canvas. I'm working on two of these right now. One is for my family activities and the other is in my art classroom. For the one in my classroom, I am collecting art items from any time I visit an art exhibit or museum. Every time I collect a new fun "memory" item, rather than stick it in a scrap book, throw it away, or lose it on my desk, I collage it to the canvas. So far we have a beautiful collection of memories that we can look at all the time. I am going to try doing this on a smaller scale with my after school art class this year.
The canvases I am using for my home and classroom are 18" x 24", but I purchased 8" x 10" canvases for the kids at school. First, we will divide the canvas into 10 sections using masking tape (see above). We have 10 sessions of after school art, so one section for each meeting. Using tempera paint, we will paint the taped canvas in a variety of colors. We will add one new thing to the canvas each week. We will use a variety of different materials. It is like a sketchbook routine, but on a canvas. I'm excited to see what the kids come up with.
GLITTER GLUE
I am still anti loose glitter, but I am a big fan of glitter glue. I also recently found glitter acrylic paint. I would not buy acrylic paint for kids, but for me it's fun. Anyway, jump on board, buy glitter glue, add glitter to everything, it is fun.
TEMPERA STICKS
Last year we made a large KINDNESS mural for my school. We worked on 6 large canvases throughout the year and every kid in the school added something to the project (see my instagram for the images). Tempera sticks were a great addition to this because they were easy for kids to grab to add color to our project. They lasted a long time, there are lots of colors, they are washable, and they are inexpensive.
Use these on big papers or on your canvas project. You can use them to make collage papers that you later cut up and make new things. One suggestion, if you use them on something that you plan to hang up, I would do a layer of modge podge or spray with a fixative before hanging. The tempera sticks are washable, so if anything ever splashed on the canvas or artwork it could activate the paint. You'll want to set that before displaying. Otherwise have fun!
FOAM AIR DRY CLAY
I don't love clay because it's a ton of work, it takes us storage space, and it dries out my hands. A lot of air dry clays are difficult to work with and break easily, which is frustrating for me and the kids. However, I have found a clay that I like, dare I say, love. It is foam air dry clay and, I'm not going to lie, I bought a LOT for my classroom this year.
It is extremely easy to use. It comes in individually wrapped packages in a variety of colors. I sometimes give it as a reward. Kids can take that little packet and build on their own. I love the Clay Moo brand, which has kits to built specific things. If you want the clay by itself, you can find it at most craft stores. The key word when you are searching is foam.
YARN
I'm NOT buying the yarn because I get a lot of yarn donated to my classroom. If you can find a crafter who over buys their yarn, than you too can avoid purchasing yarn. I like having a lot of yarn for all sorts of projects. This year, I'm going to focus on finger knitting and some basic crochet. I really want to build the skills of the kids up, so maybe next year we can crochet our own hackie sacks.
If you know me, you know I love Woobles. Some of my students work on these on their own and I'm always happy to help them as needed. I want to get the rest of the students going with some basic crochet skills, so they can work their way up to something more challenging like a Wooble or other pattern-based project. It is such a great calm activity and I've had a lot of success over the years using crochet and other yarn based projects, like weaving, as a fun activity to do at the end of class. It is a perfect end of class activity for kids to do while others finish projects or clean up.
I hope you found this list helpful. Have fun making art this year!
And let me know - have I missed any supplies you would recommend?
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