Setting up a Creative Space for Your Child

Guest Post by Sara of We Play In PA

 

My five year old loves to create and draw. She says she wants to be an artist when she grows up. I wanted to setup a space for her so she can have access to art materials and use her own imagination to create crafts.

 

Here are a few things to think about when setting up a creative space for your child:

 

Location – For us, the location is critical. We also have a toddler in my household who loves to get into everything. We decided to setup my daughter’s art station in her bedroom so my son would not disturb it!

 

Materials – When you prepare your creative space, think about the maturity level of your child. My five year old is very trustworthy with paints and I don’t have to worry about her marking up the house. Because of this, I felt confident in giving her access to watercolor paints, washable markers and crayons. When you set up your space, think about the age of your child and what might work best for them!

 

Storage – We found a child’s art desk at a yard sale for ten dollars – but you could use whatever you have. A child’s size table, a small rug area or even a lap desk would work well. You just want a central location for the materials. We also used some of our recycled containers that were made here for storage.

 

Display – It would also be fun to add a display area for finished products. Maybe a cork board, or a magnetic board or maybe a clothesline with pins to clip artwork on. You would want to choose what is safe for your child’s age range.

 

Here is what my daughter’s art center ended up looking like:

 

 

At her art desk, she has stamps with a washable stamp pad, markers, crayons, pens, scissors, water color paints, paper, and glues. I just went around our house and collected a lot of the little things we had laying in various places. If you are able to stock up on supplies at back to school time – this is a great way to save! You can also find lots of items at the dollar store – think pom-poms, Popsicle sticks, construction paper and stickers. I have been recycling paper that we have used on one side in our printer for her to draw on.

 

My daughter has been waking up in her room in the morning and has gone straight to her creative space. She loves it so much and I love seeing all of the pieces and projects she comes up with! Do you have a creative space setup for your child? How did you do it?

 

Sara is a mom to a Kindergarten age child and a toddler from Pennsylvania. She loves to come up with creative projects and activities to keep her kiddos entertained! She blogs about her adventures and ideas at We Play In PA.