We love arts and crafts! We do a lot of prepared arts and crafts activities that I post on my Instagram. Although, these could be considered special activities: they require supplies that are not readily available on a daily basis because they are generally expensive or require more supervision. For the day to day arts and crafts we have a cart (I believe we got it at Michael's) full of supplies that the boys can use freely.
Sometimes it is used multiple times a day and sometimes it is ignored for weeks. I rotate the supplies regularly, however the setup is generally similar and the changes are in the colors, the loose parts and the play dough. This is the setup for my 3 boys: 6, 4 and 1. At this point, Theo, who still mouths everything, cannot grab what is on the top shelf, so everything considered dangerous is there. The two lower shelves usually contain things I am ok with him exploring (he cannot open the paint nor the play dough yet!).
The middle shelf has all the paint supplies: tempera paint, paint brushes and some sponge cubes for painting, a rag for wiping spills, a palette, and an empty container for water. There is also a watercolor set. Then we have <