Every home needs a creative pantry where children’s creative spirits can grow. Find out what I keep in ours, how to build your own and storage options.
The Pantry is a Place of Abundance
There is no visual more gorgeous or more indicative of a happy, healthy home than a full pantry. The internet is chockablock with visuals of beautifully designed pantry spaces stocked with baskets of russet potatoes, glass jars brimming with beans, and bright greenery spilling out of bins and baskets. A well-curated pantry is a promise of health and plenty, of full bellies and well-tended bodies.
The pantry is the ultimate aspiration of parents everywhere who want nothing more than to build a healthy, abundant home for their children.
"A well-curated pantry is a promise of health and plenty, of full bellies and well-tended bodies."
A CREATIVE PANTRY feeds the Creative Spirit
But a human being is more than just a stomach. We have aspirations and ideas, problems to solve and stories to tell.
Enter the creative pantry.
This is the spot where parents and children alike can go, when they are ready to feed their most human of appetites- creativity. The creative pantry, packed with the tools that makers and artists have used for millennia, is where we can learn who we are, build confidence in ourselves as people who can make an impact, and connect with one another.
The creative pantry feeds minds and creative spirits.
"The creative pantry is where children go when they are ready to feed their most human of appetites- CREATIVITY. "
What’s in Your Creative Pantry?
So what is in your creative pantry? How is it a reflection of your values and your dreams for your children? Do you want to teach your children the art of woodworking? Are there dowels and screwdrivers, hammers and nails, and cast-offs of pine and oak?
Do you love to make delicious soul food for the people you love? Do you have a drawer full of cookie cutters, rolling pins, and bags of flour? Do you have a passionately cultivated spice rack?
...Or perhaps a basket of yarn sits in the corner with two knitting needles poking out, ready to be spun into scarves and sweaters to keep friends and family cozy.
I bet you have a creative pantry somewhere in your house. Where is it? What's in there? Do you share it with your children? What is the spiritual, intellectual, and creative inheritance you are gifting to them with that collection of tools, materials and odds and ends?
"A creative pantry is a reflection of our values and our dreams for our children."
A Nook for Creative Spirits
As a professional artist, I have a well-stocked creative pantry of my own. Tubes of watercolor paint, sable hair paint brushes, Sennelier chalk pastels, and paper of more sizes and varieties than you can shake a stick at. As a professional artist, I keep my pantry well-stocked with items that instruct, enable and inspire.
At home, I have also been building my children’s creative pantry for years. Every year as they grow- becoming more capable or as their interests change- I add or subtract items. This year I added Stabilo Watercolor Pencils for my toddler, as well as gold earring studs for my tween’s jewelry-making habit. Simple computer paper, pencils and our pencil sharpener have become extra important lately for my middle child, who becomes more obsessed with funny graphic novels and fart jokes by the day!
In our creative pantry, we also have pins and needles, thread, fabric scissors, paper scissors, toddler scissors, woolen yarn, Crayola markers, Posca pens, a workhorse printer, paper of all kinds, and more. It is a fairly small collection where every item is curated. Things are removed that go unused. We try to organize on a regular basis.
Everything we need to be creative is almost always within reach.
Art Supplies for your Creative Pantry
I'd like to share with you here the creative pantry that I would recommend for any family home. Use this list to spur inspiration, or help you reflect on what you already have in your home that can be brought together into an intentional collection.
Art Supplies
Crayons, markers, professional grade colored pencils
Watercolor paints and brushes
Paper (various textures and weights)
Scissors (including child-safe options)
Glue, tape, and other adhesives
Crafting Materials
Yarn and knitting needles
Fabric scraps and sewing essentials (needles, thread, fabric scissors)
A small embroidery hoop
Beads, buttons, and embellishments
Woodworking Tools
Basic hand tools (hammers, screwdrivers, nails, screws)
Small pieces of wood for crafting
Baking Supplies
Cookie cutters, rolling pins, and baking sheets
Measuring cups and spoons
Basic baking ingredients (flour, sugar, etc.)
Bits and bobs
Recyclable materials (cardboard, egg cartons, etc.)
Natural materials (pinecones, leaves, stones)
**For more specific art supply recommendations, check out my posts:
A Note on Kids' Art Supply Storage
Of course a pantry needs to be well organized so we can find what we need. Over the years I have invested in sturdy glass jars of many sizes, clip top boxes, reusable clear bags, labels and more. It’s interesting how much the storage solutions overlap between our food pantry and our creative pantry!
Since our pantries work much more efficiently and bring more joy if they are well laid out, consider treating your storage containers as investments. Get ones that fit in your space, work very well, last a long time, and make your art supplies look appealing.
Where to keep your Creative Pantry
I live in a 1,000 sq ft home with a family of 5 so I know all about space constraints. Trust me when I say that any space can be utilized to tuck away a portion of your creative pantry. We have a large cherry cabinet in our dining/ living room area where we keep the majority of our paper, coloring supplies and sculpting supplies.
The corner of a table can store a jar with vibrant colored pencils, a pencil sharpener and coloring books. Kids can sit down and color while they are waiting for dinner. A side table next to a couch can host a small basket of embroidery that small hands can practice with before bed. And never underestimate the power of a sweetly re-painted and repurposed medicine cabinet. Watercolor tubes, paintbrushes, inks, jars of buttons or Playdoh pots fit beautifully inside.
Your creative pantry can be in one spot or sprinkled all over the house, just waiting for those moments when your child’s creative spirit clamours for nourishment.
An Expression of your Family’s Creative Spirit
A well-stocked creative pantry isn’t about having every possible item but about having the right tools to inspire creativity. By thoughtfully curating your creative pantry, you provide a rich environment for your children to grow intellectually and spiritually. You show them that you trust them by making supplies accessible. Most of all, you encourage them to live a life of creativity, where they can create joy by simply opening the pantry door.
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Get specific ideas for what to include in your creative pantry with the following posts:
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