Elephant: Tissue paper squares and a spray bottle 🙂 I drew the elephant outline with a sharpie. The rest was all her!
Originally, I wanted a maker space. A “tinker lab.” A place where my child could go and cut, glue, saw, tape, wire, and mold things from her imagination to reality. Robots, pulleys, cars, machines.
But she’s still two, so for now, I need her to get familiar with the basics first. So far, that means paper, markers, glue, tape, scissors, and paint. You’d be surprised how much a toddler can do with those few items and, paradoxically, how hard it is to think of new things to do with those few items. At least it is for me. I’m not super creative myself, but I really like copying neat stuff other people do. So I’ve been all over the Internet and Instagram researching and now have endless hours of inspiration at my fingertips. I’m sure you’ll be seeing some of that here :).
This space has been GREAT for our family for so many reasons. My toddler has developed her fine motor skills like craaazy with all that drawing, coloring, painting, taping, and cutting. She has learned to use a bunch of different tools (like scissors, brushes, tape, glue, straws, syringes, pipettes, and clothespins) and mediums (watercolors, crayons, markers, tempera paints, ribbons, washi tape). Some days, she comes home and declares that she needs art time, and she walks right over and starts cutting paper. I think it’s one way she unwinds and calms her mind after busy activities, and I love that she has that option.
One of my biggest hopes for this space was that it would provide her a place to do stuff independently. And parents, it has been a dream come true. One of the things I love most about this space is how she can be engaged for sooo long on her own. I can cook dinner or play with her little brother and she is content to find something to tinker with or make and create (or… destroy- she LOVES those scissors!). Parents, it has been AWESOME, and a total game changer for our family!
There are a million ways you can present and organize your materials in a creative space. Trust me, I know. I spent hours upon hours upon HOURS researching online, and got to learn some of the thinking behind some amazing spaces for kids to create. Sometimes, I was sure that I was going to copy Meri Cherry’s (that’s her real name!) jars and jars of endlessly fun knick knacks beckoning from the glossy white shelves. Then I ran the other direction and coveted Megan’s beautiful Urbio organizing system. So clean. So uncluttered. So calm. But also sooo expensive.
There were moments when I was determined to find the perfect compartmentalized wooden tray to fill with “loose parts.” I was also dead set on owning that blue art cart. Stringing up some clothespins to hang art on was also a nonnegotiable. In the end, a trip to Goodwill saved us a lot of time and money, because for the low prices, I was willing to settle for close-enough items and could finally stop doing my late-night research for the perfect tray or basket.
But I did end up with the art cart. IKEA ran out of blue, so ours is cream-colored, but I’ve convinced myself I like that better anyway.
It rolls and holds things and best of all, my toddler owns it. It’s the best. You’ll hear more about it soon!
In the end, you’ll have a gazillion options for how to organize, which materials to stock your art space with, and what kind of focus you want the space to have. It will be different for every home and every child (or combination of children- how to keep the crawling baby out of the paints??). The fun part is that it is an evolving space, so you just need a few things to get started. Let the rest of it evolve as your family changes and grows.
I’ll be adding more posts including some of my faaaavorite art materials, how I organized our space, and… how I made space for this space. It has been a tremendous place for my toddler to get busy and make and grow and learn. I hope this inspires you to create space in your own lives to make and create!
2 responses to “How to Set Up Your Children’s Art Studio”
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Aww, love this post, and what a lucky toddler! Your enthusiasm for the project is inspiring. Can’t wait to learn more from your follow up posts, so I can try something similar when the time is right 🙂
Yayyyy thank you!! It’s been a really fun project for all of us and I’m so excited to share about it :D.