Most used activity supplies for kids! These are our favorites!
What toddler activity supplies do you need to own?
Although I love ALL THE THINGS, what you want to stock up on really depends on you and the sort of activities you want to do with your kids.
To help you narrow down what supplies you might want to get, I've organized this supply page into some sections based on different types of activities. At the top of this post are my Top 10 Must Have Toddler Activity Supplies. If you aren't sure where to start, start there.
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- Top 10 Must Have Supplies
- Must Have Toddler Painting Supplies
- Must Have Toddler Crafting Supplies
- Loose Parts
- Sensory Bin Fillers
- Must Have Sensory Play Tools
- Recycled Materials to Save
- Supplies for Clean Up
Here are my top 10 supplies for toddler activities:
- Big roll of paper
- Painters tape
- Colored/white cardstock
- Washable paint/markers
- Paintbrushes
- Playdoh
- Plastic storage bin (32QT)
- Sensory bin fillers (rice, dried beans, flour, dried oats, etc.)
- Cardboard boxes
- Favorite small toys (dinosaurs, plastic animals, mini Cat-6 trucks, stuffed animals, LEGO bricks, magformers, etc.)
Arts & Crafts Supplies
These arts & crafts supplies are broken down by painting and coloring/creating, although many of them can overlap.
For painting
- Acrylic paint (not washable)
- Canvases (different sizes)
- Cardstock paper
- Craft trays (we also have these trays from Lakeshore)
- Coffee filters
- Liquid watercolors
- Paint brushes (rollers, small brushes, foam brushes)
- Paint cups
- Paint Palettes
- Paint sticks
- Salad spinner
- Washable tempera paint
- Water cups
- White Bed Trays (I got them at IKEA for $14.99 each)
For coloring/creating
- Air Dry Clay
- Brown butcher paper
- Chalk (Prang Pastello Art Chalk)
- Clear Con-Tact Paper
- Crayons
- Craft punches
- Colored Pencils
- Do-a-dot markers
- Glitter glue
- Glue gun & sticks
- Glue sticks
- Hole Punchers
- Jewel Stickers
- Mallets
- Markers (Washable markers, Paint markers, Sharpies)
- Paper (white cardstock, colored cardstock, & white computer paper)
- Scissors (for kids)
- Scissors (for grown ups)
- Scissors (Safety scissors) or playdough scissors
- Sharpie Markers
- Stamp sets
- Stickers
- Tape (painters tape, washi tape, electrical tape, clear tape)
- Twine/Ribbon/Yarn
- White Craft Paper
- White glue
Loose Parts
Loose parts are great tools to pull out for craft projects as well as sensory bins!
- Buttons
- Clothespins
- Craft sticks
- Glitter (biodegradable)
- Golf tees
- Googly eyes
- Jewels/Gems
- Pipe cleaners
- Pom poms
- Sequins
- Shells
Sensory Play Supplies
Sensory play is so much fun and is so important for kids! You can set your kids up for success by having some of these materials on hand!
Fillers for sensory bins...
- Kinetic BEACH sand
- Black beans (dried)
- Dried Split Peas
- Kidney beans (dried)
- Noodles (dried)
- Oats (dried)
- Pinto beans (dried)
- Rice (dried)
- White beans (dried)
Sensory bin tools...
- Mini Colanders
- Cookie cutters
- Eye droppers
- Foam letters
- Food coloring
- Ice cube tray
- Jumbo tweezers
- Muffin tin
- Pitchers for pouring
- Playdough tools
- Scissor scoops
- Silicone Strainers
- Squeeze bottles
- Storage bins
- Tiny CAT6 trucks
- Turkey basters
Other awesome sensory play materials...
Recycled Materials to Save
These are just a few of the items that you can collect and save for art projects and activities.
Do you need to save these all year long? Nope.
If you see a project you want to try that needs toilet paper rolls, start collecting them a month or two ahead of time. Same with egg cartons or brown paper bags. No need to clutter up your house with tons of crafty recyclable materials unless you want to! The items starred * below are ones I always keep on hand.
- Aluminum foil
- Aluminum containers
- Bottle caps*
- Brown paper grocery bags
- Cardboard boxes
- Bubble wrap
- Cereal boxes
- Coffee cans with lids/Oats cans*
- Diaper wipe containers
- Egg cartons
- Fabric scraps
- Jars and lids (empty & rinsed out)
- Magazines
- Old mittens/socks/gloves for puppets*
- Old shirt for art smock
- Paper scraps
- Paper towel/toilet paper tubes
- Plastic yogurt, margarine, and sour cream containers
- Shoeboxes with lids
- Soda bottles (empty & rinsed out)
- Tissue paper*
- Wrapping paper scraps
Supplies for clean up
After activities it is always time for clean up! These magic tools help clean up go much smoother!
- Baby wipes
- Dyson Cordless stick vacuum
- Magic eraser
- Vinyl Tablecloth
