Kids Craft Supplies to Have on Hand for Your Kid’s Craft Box (to do most easy crafts)

It can be hard to know what supplies to have on hand in order to put together a quick craft. In this post I put together a list of cheap kids craft supplies to have on hand in order to do MOST easy crafts.

Kids Craft Supplies

Have you ever wanted to do a craft that you saw on Pinterest, but then realized you don’t have any of the supplies on hand? AND, it’s too much trouble to go to the store. You convince yourself that it’s not that great of an idea anyway, and it’ll never be Pinterest worthy. So, you don’t end up doing it, or ever buying any craft supplies. The next time you’re on Pinterest, it happens all over again.

It’s an endless cycle.

Well, what if I said you could keep a SMALL stock of kids craft supplies AND be able to do a ton of kid’s craft projects?

Yes, it’s possible because I do it all. the. time. (in fact, it’s basically what this blog is about)

I mean there is the occasional time that I want to do this awesome craft and have to pick up a few supplies, but most of the time, I already have everything on hand. It’s great!

And the even better thing about kids is they love simple. Crafting doesn’t have to be this overwhelming thing…that’s another post for another day.

Here are some simple supplies and resources I love that can make your craft life a little easier. This is what I recommend you keep in your kid’s craft repertoire.

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Kids Craft Supplies: What to put in your kid’s craft box

Mod Podge

I love Mod Podge. It is useful in just about any project I do. It’s the perfect glue because it’s strong and dries clear. It is amazing. It is my go-to for glue. An 8 oz container can easily last me a year, unless I’m doing some huge decoupage project. I always have this on hand. Anytime a craft calls for glue, you can use this in place of it.

With some Mod Podge, newspaper, and balloons you can make Paper Mache Balloons.

Double sided tape

Double sided tape comes in handy for those simple projects that don’t need a lot to stick. It makes it easy to get in tough spots and keeps your hands from getting sticky.

Acrylic paints

I use acrylic paints on every painting project: wood, paper, cardboard, canvas, you name it! They are cheap, come in all variety of colors, and very durable. I think they are 88 cents at Wal-mart. I have collected them over the years, so I probably have about 50 different colors now. Almost any paint project you see out there, you can use these paints. If you’re doing a water painting project, you could water these down. They won’t be the same as water colors, but it can probably get the job done.

If you have some plastic straws and paint, you can do a Painting with Straws craft. We’ve also done painting with cars, canvas painting, and rock painting. You would have to buy canvas for the canvas painting, but the other ones just require toy cars, rocks, and some straws.

Puffy paint

I just recently learned about puffy paint. I like it. It’s more of a plastic paint. It sticks really well to things. They don’t have as many colors as the acrylic. I haven’t tried them on everything, but I’m starting to and I like them a lot. They are more expensive than the acrylic paints. I would say if you’re doing a project that needs to be more durable, use the puffy paint.

We used the puffy paint when we made homemade squishies.

Cheap paint brushes

I am a big fan of the cheap paint brushes, especially for craft projects. You can buy a pack of them off Amazon or any store for like $6-$9. It comes with a variety of brushes. I do not like to buy expensive brushes for my kids. They will end up getting ruined. The cheap ones take the stress out of worrying about them. If it breaks or gets ruined it was only .50.

Paper cutter

I can’t cut a straight line to save my life. I use my paper cutter at least three times a week. I recommend only buying the 12 X 12 size. It’s big enough for just about everything. This is the one I have right now, and I love it. The blades do have to be replaced every once in a while, but if you buy a nice one, it should last you a while. And the great thing is that a nice one isn’t too expensive! These are great if you have a project with a little bit of prep work.

Good scissors

Having good scissors is key. The more I do crafts, the more I realize that I love using Kitchen scissors. They are just way more durable than most scissors, and they last longer. I have the KitchenAid ones, and I love them. I mean, you would only use them to help your kids. I recommend getting small elementary school scissors for them. They aren’t too sharp and are easy to use.

Tape

Tape comes in handy for so many things. Activities, crafts, and for fixing things. It’s always good to have different tapes on hand. It’s easy to be creative with tape, especially decorative tape like Washi Tape. Here are the ones I recommend:

Masking Tape
Painting Tape
Washi Tape -These make great stocking stuffers during Christmas, or to add into Easter baskets. Kids love it!

Recycle Items

Start saving things after you use them. For example: egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, and containers. These come in handy, and make great crafts. Just keep a box of these items so when you need an easy, cheap craft, you already have it on hand. I just have a small box in my room that we throw them in when we’re done using them.

We have made egg carton bugs which requires an egg carton, paint, and pipe cleaners. We’ve also made homemade stamps with toliet paper rolls.

Pipe Cleaners 

Pipe Cleaners are an activity all by themselves. They come in handy for several projects, like when we made the egg carton bugs. You can often find these at the dollar store, or a huge pack at Wal-mart for relatively cheap.

Googly Eyes

Googly eyes are great to have. They aren’t a necessity because you can usually come up with something else to use for eyes, like just painting them on. However, kids love these, and they make a great accessory. You can basically buy them in bulk and have them forever for pretty cheap.

Balloons

There are so many crafts and activities you can do with balloons. In fact, here are 10 different things to do with balloons. You can also get a pack of balloons at the dollar store. I probably pick up a pack every time I go. Plus, you’ll have them for any impromptu parties.

Craft Sticks (or tongue compressors, or Popsicle sticks, whatever you want to call them)

These come in handy not just for projects, but to assist with projects. They make a great glue stick for Mod Podge projects. We made airplanes out of Popsicle sticks.

Q-tips

Surprisingly, Q-tips come in handy, a lot. One of our favorite things to do is Q-tip paint. If you’re looking for a great printable to do some Q-tip painting of your own, here are some great sheets.

Food Coloring

Food coloring comes in handy for painting, or for easy science projects. We’ve also used it for Easter eggs. We did 9 science experiments with household items, and used them a ton. And, of course, they could help you out in the kitchen.

Construction Paper

Maybe an obvious one is construction paper. Almost any projects that call for paper, use construction paper, or can use construction paper. It’s pretty durable and super cheap!

Yarn

Yarn is another great resource. I would just buy some black yarn and keep it on hand. If a craft ever calls for rope or string, you can probably use yarn, and it’s relatively cheap.

Paper Plates

You can do a ton of crafts with paper plates. And it can come in hand for a more durable paper. They are super easy to cut and super cheap! Just buy a cheap pack of 50 and throw them in your craft box, or buy in bulk and use them for other things as well.

Cotton Balls

Super cheap to have on hand, and they have soooo many different uses, including kids crafts.

Luxury Items

Some extra things that you can have on hand, but not necessary needed are things like stickers, embellishments, and buttons. Just go raid the scrapbook section at Hobby Lobby. Grab just some things that you like, and throw them in your box. Your kids will find a use for them. Pull them out for decorating any crafts. These are great things to grab when they are on clearance, or if someone is trying to get rid of their craft supplies. Hobby Lobby and Michael’s both have craft clearance sections, and sometimes Wal-mart.

Extras

Kids Apron

Having a kids apron actually comes in handy. It can be a pain to have your kids change clothes every time you do some art. Nobody wants more laundry. I always thought putting an apron on wouldn’t really make a difference, but it does. They rarely get their clothes dirty with the aprons.

I also make them take their pants off, haha.

If you go to Home Depot on the first Saturday of each month, they do a free building activity for kids. They give you a cute little Home Depot apron. It’s cheap, but it does work. It’s a little big for my son, but we make it work. Or, you can buy a pretty cheap adjustable one from Amazon. I ALSO saw one at the dollar store one time, but for some reason, they are not always there. Be on the look out.

An Old Sheet

I always pull out an old sheet to use when we do painting or gluing projects. It makes for a super easy clean up. A cheap tablecloth will also work. You could get some plastic ones at the dollar store and always have some in stock.

Bin

I just throw all these items into our crafting “box” bin, which is really just an 18-gallon plastic tuberware. You can get one at Wal-Mart for $8-10 dollars. All of these things should fit in it. Then you can store it in your closet, under your bed, or in your kids closet and pull it out whenever you need it and all your crafts are right there.

Having the right kids craft supplies on hand makes crafting with kids that much easier! You could go for one big shopping haul and collect most of the items, and then keep it up and slowly build it up over time.

Related: 31 Quick Crafts for Kids that Take Less than 10 Minutes

Related: 30 Cheap Crafts for Kids that Cost Less than $5.00

Related: 9 Science Experiments for Kids with Household Items