If you’re anything like me, the thought of letting your toddler loose with the art supplies sends cold shivers down your spine. So much mess! So much cleaning! So much that could go wrong! But, I know, having a mom that’s a teacher, and a sister that’s an OT, that getting creative is so important for Aria’s development, and so I put aside my A-type tendencies and let her go wild. Art supplies for toddlers are not in short supply, there are so many different options available! But what do you really need? And what do we really use over and over again? Where should you invest and where should you save? I’ve got it all covered in today’s blog post – hoorah!

One of the basics that you need is paper, and lots of it. I have found that a pack of A3 is best and lasts a decent amount of time, if you’re in a pinch, Aria also loves to draw on newspaper. Now, if you want to take it up a notch, you can invest in an art easel. Tooky Toys very kindly sent this one to Aria and she has absolutely loved using it, and to be honest, so have I! What’s fab is that it’s a three-in-one: a white board, a chalk board and it has a paper roll that you can use too! What sold me on this one (as opposed to others that I have seen before) is that the boards can be adjusted depending on how tall your child is, which means that the easel will last you a decent 3 or more years. If you’re in the market to purchase one, act quick because the Tooky Toys one is currently on sale!

Crayons are the bane of my existence; Aria leaves them lying all over the show and so Malva end up eating them like they are dog treats and so because of this, I really don’t buy expensive ones. I usually stock up one two packs when I go grocery shopping so that one can go in Aria’s craft box and one is a back up in the cupboard. So far, Aria hasn’t drawn on the walls… but I know that the day is coming! Any fail-proof remedies for getting kiddies artwork off the walls?

Paint… this is where things start to get messy, because that’s just that nature of paint, isn’t it? Personally I prefer the ready-made pots of finger paint over powder paint. You definitely need all of the primary colours, but if you can find secondary colours, that would be an absolute bonus, if you can’t, you’ll have to put on your artist hat and mix some up. We use our paint so much: sometimes I just let Aria dunk her hands in and go crazy on the paper, other times I make stamps out of potatoes and every now and then we do hand and foot prints. I’m not sure why, but kids really seem to enjoy the gooey feeling of paint between their fingers, so as much as it might make you die a little bit on the inside, let them indulge.

Egg cartons, bubble wrap and all sorts of other goodies that you can re-purpose for arts and crafts are absolute wins. Not only are you doing something good for the planet, but you can also do some really fun crafts with them. If you’re running dry on inspiration, Pinterest is the best place to go, there are so many tutorials, some of them really simple and quick and others more complex and more suitable for pre-schoolers.

Art supplies for toddlers really don’t need to cost you an arm and a leg, most items are super affordable and will give your child hours of creative fun. To help you to get started though, along with the kind folks at Tooky Toys, I’m giving away a R600 Tooky Toys voucher. This cover majority of the cost if you’d like to buy the art easel, but there are tons of other goodies that are just as awesome! Look at this doctor set, or what about this balance bike? Want to enter? Simply use the Gleam widget below.

R600 Tooky Toys Voucher

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