An art tray is a process art invitation for your kids. A chance to create and explore art materials with no specific outcome expected. Learn exactly how to set up your very own art tray below!
An art tray is not the Pinteresty crafts you see all over the internet…but it doesn’t have to be any less cute!
Don’t get me wrong goal oriented crafts are also fun to do with your kids sometimes, and they are good skills for your kids to learn. The ability to follow a step-by-step process is a valuable skill, but most of the time, they’re fairly limiting when it comes to creative expression.
What is Process art and why is it important?!
Process art is open-ended, unstructured, creation. It’s self-motivated, creative, and unique art that comes only from free access to supplies and the time in which to get creative. It focuses on the process, or the doing, rather than the outcome or final product.
Process art is amazingly important for little brains and bodies. I can help develop cognitive skills like attention span, and problem solving. It can help develop fine motor and hand-eye coordination. It can help children learn new ways of expressing themselves or provide outlets for big feelings. There is so much more to process art that I haven’t even scratched the surface of it honestly!
An art tray offers the supplies and provides the opportunity for creativity. An art tray is process art waiting to happen. An art tray also provides a wonderful chance to practice skills like scissors or glue in a no-pressure situation, allowing the child time to explore and fine-tune their skills. I 100% attribute my kid’s scissor skills to our art tray!
Art trays are process art, but make it cute
Okay, you are on board with process art, but all you can think about is paint smeared together making muddy brown, or a jumble of random scribbles. I get it. That’s WHY I like art trays. They provide the opportunity but within limits.
My favorite way to set up an art tray is to pick a theme or color palette, usually seasonally or interest-based.
A limited color palette is what is going to save you from ending up with brown on brown on brown. The limited color palette also makes your fridge cuter when you’re displaying all their art tray creations!
Art trays are for all ages
An art tray is a very easy thing to curate to your kid’s specific ages and interests.
If you have a younger toddler lean a bit more into dot markers, puffy stickers, and hole punches.
As you get more into the preschool crowd, this is a great way to expose them to art supplies they might not otherwise get like oil pastels, glitter glue, and stamps.
Best of all, an art tray is a perfect open-ended art activity for a multi-age setting. By providing a variety of art supplies, within limits, you can cater to a wide range of ages!
There will be a mess…
Don’t get me wrong. The more you provide materials the better they will get about using the materials but glitter is always a mess. By providing free access to materials, you are potentially inviting a mess, but you’re also providing experience to practice proper use and opportunities to reduce novelty.
Disclamer
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How to set up an art tray
You’ll need a divided tray of some kind. You could work in. A hors d’oeuvres platter, a divided lazy season, or a silverware tray. You could work really in anything that has different sections for the different supplies. Our Art tray is a vintage monkey pod tray I found second hand.
Then you’ll need to decide what kind of art tray you want to provide. What skill set would you like the kids to work on? or What theme do you want to stick to? An art tray is only limited by your art supplies and your willingness to deal with the subsequent mess.
Other supplies that are handy are mail organizers (I found a cuter one at the thrift store so check there too!) to hold papers, sticker sheets, and larger items. You can do a fancier one with small sections to hold glue and scissors. Then small containers with lids to hold small amounts of things like sequins or beads.
Okay, you are willing to try out an art Tray…but where do you start?! These are our favorite art tray supplies
I feel like we’re a bit of an art supply store anymore. I really value quality art supplies and novelty supplies are so fun to add to an art tray. As such we have amassed a decent collection over the years, but our tried and true supplies always seem to make it back on the art tray!
Cut/Trace/Tie
- Simple shape stencils
- hole punch
- Shape punches
- Wacky scissors
- Trainer scissors
- Kids metal scissors
- string/yarn
- Pipe cleaners
Stick/Paste
- Crepe paper
- Glitter glue
- Sequins
- Google eyes
- Washi tape
- Sticky gems
- Stickers – puffy for little hands and standard for older kids
- Foam stickers
Mark Makers
- Dot markers – classic, shimmer, and pastel
- Stamp markers, Stamp roller pens
- Color change markers
- Sharpies
- Felt tip pens
- Highlighters
- Outline markers
- Markers – Crayola and Sented
- Quick sticks – classic, pastel, neon, and metallic
- Oil pastels
- Chalk pastels
- Glitter markers
- Color pencils if you have older kids who are ready for nicer pencils try some soft core options
- Gel crayons
- Rock crayons
Paper/Foam
- Scrap paper
- Astrobrights paper
- Printer Paper
- Construction Paper
- Cardstock
- Scratch art
- Paper plates
- Foam shapes – I find these in seasonal craft kits most often!
Would you ever try an art tray? What’s the biggest mess your kids have made while making art? Leave your story down in the comments!
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Hello!
Where did you get your art tray? Thanks!
I found it second hand at a flea market, try searching monkey pod trays!
Hey
How do we prepare a toy or activity beforehand like we keep it out of the box arranged with craft material or take it out infront of the child. How do we keep some activities hidden for meltdown time but also accessible ? How do we organise daily toys and not the ones that are not in rotation.
If your looking to have prepared options I would have storage boxes that stack nicely with everything they need to engage with the item. I keep a scrapbook storage tower in my closet for our quiet time toys. Easy to grag but out of the way for most of the time.
We keep our open access daily toys on low open shelves on trays or in baskets for the kids to get at whenever they please. Hope that helps!