Hi all! I know I have seen some folks post that they have 'free art' types of centers in their daycare. How does that work? What types of activities or items do you have available?

I'll admit that I am a bit of a neat freak, so while I want art for my kiddos, I am not sure what I want them to have. I do have coloring book pages, paper, and crayons (always available), color wonder pages and markers(usually available), and do some art activities like finger paint or marble paint (with me). Because of my space and ages, I am not sure how to set up for more freedom for the kids and no stress for me. Thanks!

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I have white and coloured paper, washable markers and crayons out for “open art” all the time. Paints, glue, clay or any of those things come out for a special planned time where I can supervise closely. I will sometimes leave the glue and collage materials out all the time as well but it depends on the group and if they can handle it responsibly.

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Other than the basics I used to set out paint once a week. We had group in the morning and would talk about how to use the "new" stations. I would hover nearby at the beginning of the year but the kids eventually would learn. They got one reminder to put on a smock and after that, they were unable to go to that station for awile. Our favorite art though was when I would freeze paint (3/4 paint, to 1/4 water). I would toss a few colored cubes in the sensory table and the kids painted with them till they melted. We also liked to have bins with collage materials and a glue stick out. We also liked "licky sticky" paper. easy no mess fun! Bingo dabbers were out too.

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