Earth-Friendly And Budget-Conscious Art Teaching Stuff…
Part 3: Free or Freely Available Art Room Materials & Supplies
Art Room Materials from free things, or freely available things, easily found around school sites and households
In our quest for eco-friendly and cheap art supplies, let’s not overlook the abundance of free or readily available materials right at our fingertips, as there’s a wealth of resources waiting to be tapped into in our school sites and households!
By incorporating these freely available materials into our art projects, we not only save money but also teach our art students the value of resourcefulness and creativity.
Free/Freely Available Art Room Supplies:
-Newspapers-
Features:
quickly disposable
low-waste due to availability
Uses:
Paint Palettes
Printmaking Plates
-Cereal Boxes, Other Pantry Food Boxes-
Features:
Super upcycleable (if you’re allowed to have a box cutter/xacto)
Popular Household Staple
Uses:
Canvas for painting/gluing
Covers for DIY sketchbooks
3D sculptures
Frequently used in 3D projects for POP Art units.
-Plastic Glue Caps, Marker Caps, etc-
Features:
Easy to store
Otherwise contribute to plastic pollution
You’ll have more of them everytime you inventory your used markers or gluesticks.
Use:
create mosaics, sculptures, as stamps for printmaking
-Copy Paper Boxes (and sometimes just their Lids!)-
-Project Storage sorted by class, table group, etc.
-Future Weeks’/Days’ material and supply distribution by project, grade level, class, table group, etc.
-3D Artwork Storage (hint: divide into sections with permanent marker, and add (removable) individual name labels with painters tape
-Boxes can be stacked, and lids last longer by alternating lengthwise when stacking.
Not as eco-concious, but…
-Page Protectors-
Features:
Wipeable (for quick turnaround), space-saving,
Uses:
Art Room Games (quiz them on project vocab, concepts like elements/ principles, artist/movement facts, etc) while waiting for class pickup
Creativity warm-ups, quick sketch prompts, mid-lesson quick whole class check-in/assessment
-Lamination Scraps-
Features:
Wipeable
Transparent
Endless customization of shapes
Uses:
as Printmaking plates
as Masking material
cut for scraping in a visual texture to painting or clay etc.
Why Use Eco-Aware Art Stuff?
When we utilize these free art room materials along with the use of eco-friendly art classroom practices, we support our art students in creating sustainable and inspiring artwork that celebrates our connection to the Earth and its valuable resources.
So, How Do You Use Environmentally-Aware Art Practices?
Have you implemented any of these earth-friendly resource ideas in your own art classroom? Post and tag to share!
Here’s Part One if you missed it…
Part I: Art Project Supplies To Request from Home (or Homeroom Teachers)
Earth-Friendly, free and/or WIDELY available Art Classroom Materials / Supplies, along with features and ideas for their uses.