3 Reasons You Should Have an Art Cart In Your Kindergarten or Preschool Classroom

Picture this, you are a preschool or kindergarten teacher and you find yourself constantly having to come up with crafts and ideas for your kids to draw and get creative. During playtime they don’t often choose the coloring table and when it is time to do a craft or something else artistic in class many of them either don’t try their best or refuse. What happened to the days when kids were excited to do art?? 

Guess what, they are still here! Kids still enjoy creativity and imagination, and they love it when they are given time to do those things even more. However, often as teachers, it can be easy to stifle that creativity by constantly providing exact instructions and a model showing just how their perfect craft should turn out. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for this! And these directed crafts are important for development. However, kids will benefit from open-ended craft and art time even more than you’d imagine. 

Here are 3 reasons you should add an art cart to your preschool or kindergarten classroom! 

Reason Number One: It’s an EASY way to provide open-ended art opportunities. 

All you need is some kind of storage area in your classroom. I use a basic 10-drawer cart and the slap on some labels! This does not need to be (and really shouldn’t be) an expensive endeavor. Fill your cart with supplies you already have in your classroom. 

Here’s a list of what’s inside mine: 

• Bingo dotters 
• Crazy scissors 
• Construction paper 
• Pipe cleaners 
• Glue 
• Cotton balls 
• Stamps 
• Paper bags 
• Watercolors 
• Paper plates 

Trust me on this one, do not stop there. Whatever you do, do not fill up your cart and then shove it in the corner open for business. You will likely have some major regrets about starting this art cart thing. 

Instead, take the time to teach your students about the cart one drawer at a time. Just like everything else in the primary grades, you need to go slow to go fast. Ensure your students know the materials, how to use them properly, and how to clean them up and put them away! For things like construction paper and cotton balls, think about whether or not you should provide them with a limit to how many they can use per session or day.

Open up each drawer as you teach it and see the magic happen. 

Reason Number Two: Creativity and imagination will flourish!

Within hours of opening your cart, you will be amazed by the artwork your students create. Children need time away from step-by-step instructions to get those creative juices flowing. Kids are some of the most imaginative people we have but when they are constantly being told what to make, how to make it, and exactly what their art should look like, they begin to lose that creativity and desire to make art in the first place. 

Let your art cart truly be a time for free-flowing ideas and little instruction. As long as your students know the correct ways to use the materials you are offering, there is no reason to provide more detail. You’ll have students dream up giant dinosaurs, cars made from popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners, and the brightest artwork you could imagine. 

Be sure and give your students time to use this cart! If your schedule allows for it, have it open for at least 20 minutes a day, definitely more if you have it. It will also become a great, super easy indoor recess activity for those rainy days. 

Reason Number Three: Don’t worry, it can be used for academics, too! 

If you are a type A teacher (or maybe you have a type A principal), you might be struggling with the idea of having so many supplies and possibly a much-needed space in your classroom used up by something that’s not ‘necessary’. Although I would argue it provides quite a lot of value outside of the curriculum, I know that it may not be a top priority. 

So let me convince you, that this cart can easily be turned into a center or rotation activity for reading!  With a bit of teaching (but it's primary education so I challenge you to name something that doesn't take “a little bit of teaching”) this area can be transformed into an art center with academic goals in mind. 

Your students could: 

• Stamp out words and letters 
• Use directed drawings to practice letter sounds and fine motor skills at the same time 
• Tear paper to create pictures that begin with the letter of the week
• Use dotters to create pictures, letters, and words 

And so much more! And guess what? I have a bundle that includes all those activities. Grab my Ultimate Craft Center Bundle, get this rotation going in minutes, and watch as it quickly becomes the favorite activity during reading rotations! 

Grab the editable art cart labels I use here! They are developmentally appropriate and made using pictures so that students can recognize where each supply goes before being able to read. 

If you love the sound of the art cart or the Ultimate Craft Center Bundle, you can find all of my developmentally appropriate resources here!