Homeschool Learning Spaces: Art Center

two dark haired girls paint on white paper

Does your homeschool learning space have an art center? If not, I encourage you to consider it. An art center does not have to cost a lot. Nor does it have to be Pinterest-worthy. 

This tour of my homeschool space demonstrates that an art center need not be fancy, beautiful, or cost a lot of money. But it's functional for our needs, and my kids love it. Hopefully it will inspire you to devise your own homeschool art center so your kids can unleash their crafty side.

Homeschool Learning Spaces: Art CenterWhy Does Your Homeschool Need an Art Center?

Some moms are great at arts and crafts. And that’s wonderful. Me? Not so much. But I still believe including arts in the homeschool is important. Plus my kids absolutely love working on artsy projects.

The Benefits of Arts and Crafts

I knew that I couldn’t deprive my kids of something that they loved just because I didn’t have much interest, especially when I know how important art is for their physical and emotional development. When kids are exploring the arts, they are exploring their creative side and get so many benefits. 

  • imagination

  • hand-eye coordination

  • fine motor skills

  • problem-solving skills

  • mathematical awareness

  • stress relief

  • sense of accomplishment

With these benefits in mind, I knew an art center was going to be a critical part of our homeschool space.

Homeschool Room Tour: Our Art Center

Because I have so little interest in arts and crafts myself, I went to work setting up a simple, frugal, and child-friendly homeschool art center—one that allows my kids to explore this important subject as their interest leads.

What to Include in a Homeschool Art Center

A homeschool art center can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be. One of the great things about the arts is there are no requirements. You can have one or two favorite supplies, or you can have a space that resembles a craft shop in terms of the variety and volume of supplies.

child working in her homeschool art centerMy art center is stocked with things my kids can work on with little to no supervision:

  • white and colored paper

  • magazines

  • stickers

  • pipe cleaners

  • colored pom poms 

  • buttons

  • string and yarn

  • colored pencils

  • markers

  • glue of all kinds

  • water-based paints

See all hands-on products by BookShark.

Fun Arts and Crafts Kits For Kids

Besides the conglomerate of random art supplies, we do have kits on hand for the kids to use. 

We also have a few of those fancier art sets on hand. You know the ones. They come in a hard carrying case with rows and rows of colored pencils, markers, pastels, etc.

Simple and Frugal Art Center Organization

So how do we keep all these random supplies organized without spending bucketloads of cash, especially when we’re low on space? First, I use shelves that I got free from my parents. If you don’t have any parents who are giving away random shelving units, you can check some online classifieds for free or inexpensive shelves. 

Then on those shelves I store paper supplies in a large plastic bin. The kids are free to grab things from this tote as they please. I refill it every few months or so.

repurposed ice cream bucket for art supplies

Another favorite frugal organization hack is the repurposed ice cream bucket! These large containers include a well-fitting lid and can hold quite a bit of art supplies. And if the kids lose it or break it, it’s not the end of the world because it was so inexpensive in the first place. Depending on how many different supplies you have, you can separate supplies into different buckets or you could just dump everything into one or two.

We used to keep things separated. We had one bucket for erasers and pencils, another bucket for coloring pencils and crayons, and a final bucket for scissors, glue, and tape. But when you leave the kids in charge of organization, sometimes those dreams go by the wayside. At least the lid closes, right?

Like I mentioned before, I am not an artsy person. So we rarely have any kind of organized art project in our homeschool. Usually, the kids are left to their own, creative devices. But you know what? They’re still reaping all the benefits that come with exploring arts and creativity.


About the Author

Charlene Hess of Hess Un-AcademyCharlene Hess spent many years teaching before she had her own kids. She now has 7 of her own, whom she has been homeschooling for the last 10 years. Although she still teaches other children outside of her home, she finds great joy in exploring the world with her family.

Charlene has participated in many leadership trainings with John C. Maxwell. She and her husband blog about their homeschooling and parenting adventures at Hess Un-Academy.  

Share: