Some popular art utensils and tools that are necessary and helpful when creating and designing include crayons, washable and permanent markers, pencils and colored pencils. Other necessary utensils and supplies include paintbrushes, water cans, paint remover, stain remover, erasers and measuring tools (such as compasses and rulers).
A variety of paper and canvas is available at most craft stores and online. Canvas is available in many different sizes, ranging from small squares of fewer than six inches to large canvasses that are more than six to 10 feet. Some companies also offer special dimension orders for canvas. Paper for arts and crafts comes in packages with a variety of colors and also different thicknesses and widths, depending on the project on which your class is working. Paper sketchbooks also are handy for continuous sketching in art class or for keeping an art journal for the class.
Specific types of paints for a classroom include acrylic, watercolor, oil paints, fabric paints and even fingerpaints, depending on the type of projects you plan to include in your lesson plans. Each type of paint also will have accessories available for its type, such as paint remover, thinner and specific guides to help painters and students excel with the particular substance. Paper mache and modeling clay also may be of interest for your students' project depending on your own ideas and plans.
Many art supplies for classrooms are available at local craft stores as well as office supply stores. Other resources are available online. You also can find inspiration for other art supplies and material by browsing arts and craft books as well as past works of art as well.