Brands for Classroom Use?

[cricketswool]

It's time to order new supplies for the coming year.

What brands do you like to use in your classroom? Why? Which do you think are the most economical or hold up the best? Are there any you'd avoid at all costs? Where do you compromise on quality to get a better price and where do you draw the line? Do you make different choices for different grades? Have you made any purchases you regret?

[cricketswool]

My students (elementary to middle school) are required to have their own supply box with certain basics -- glue or gluestick; scissors, ruler; crayons, colored pencils, or markers; etc. -- for doing projects in their regular classes. At the end of the year, I ask parents to send whatever's left to the Art room in a bag and I usually get 3 or 4 from each class.

From the refuse, I pick out everything that can still be of use. There will usually be a few good erasers, maybe even a ruler or scissors. Empty glue bottles get refilled, dried-out markers reconditioned, and broken crayon stubs melted down into crayon blocks. Whole (or nearly whole) remaining crayons and colored pencils can be combined--3 from this child and 3 from that one and 2 from that one--to make new sets.

This lets me stock up on basics for nothing but the time it takes to sort through them -- which I enjoy, because it feels like opening a Christmas stocking as I dig into each new bag. It also gives me a chance to see how different children's brands compare.

I'd like to know more about Prang, but otherwise no other crayon brand seems to hold up to Crayola. Plus they're available as open stock colors (12 of one color in a box). Thanks to my end-of-the year collection I don't ever need to buy most crayon colors, just black, white, and occasionally brown.

Colorific markers have a remarkable cap-off life, but they're not widely available. Mr. Sketch markers are carried by most internet/mail order places, they're inexpensive, and seem just as good at the end of the year as they did in the beginning. If I were ordering markers, that'd be the brand I'd get.

I always get markers in September, however, at the discount or office supply store back-to-school sales. They never fail to have 10-color sets of markers (either Crayola, which are decent, or Sargeant, which I'll skip) for a dollar or less -- way better than any catalog price.

I use the money I don't spend on crayons and markers to replace paint brushes. (The budget folks don't seem to realize that even though brushes don't wear down like pencils, they still wear out.)

[fineartist65622]

I love prang for watercolor personally but it's been my experience that crayola works better in the classroom because they're harder and seem to last much longer.

I agree with you about crayola being the best crayon, especially for burnishing.

Can't beat elmers, and sharpie with a stick either.

Tempera cakes are the shizzle for young ones who tend to spill.

I'm sure I'll think of a bazillion more things later....maybe I'll post back.

[Paintbrush74]

I do like the blending behavior of Prang crayons. They break easily though.

Someone on WetCanvas said that Sharpie is not lightfast even though it is "permanent." I don't have personal experience in the matter. I suppose with some school projects, that might not be an issue...

[beautifulfreak]

My teaching situation is different as i teach both adults and teens in a continuing education school. For me altho price is a major consideration, reputation and my past experience with a products hold more sway for classroom purchased materials. My students pay to take my class and I can not have a product fail on me during a demo(makes me look like i don't know how to do it). When introducing materials that the students need to purchase, I lean more to locally available material and go over the pros and cons of differently priced supplies. A case in point in my mosaic class the students must purchase their own tile nips, the stores carry a selection of them priced from $12 to $20. I tell my students the 12 dollar ones work fine but will fall apart with heavy use, the mid-priced pair work just as good but will last much longer, and the top priced pair is perfect for those with weaker hands as they cut with a racheting mechanism but aren't as percise directionally when nipping.

[tommie]

I love:

-Fine sharpies, last forever
-Mr. Sketch markers, lasts a long time
-Prang watercolors, great color but can get soft after a lot of use
-another art teacher recommends berol colored pencils to use on
dark construction paper.
-I got crayola construction paper crayons a few years ago and love them for coloring on dark construction paper. They are all mixed with some sort of white that shows up


I am going to try dry tempera cakes for the little ones. Thanks for the idea

[jillyart]

Starting a new school for elementary art students after a couple of years off; looking for current recommendations from others out there.
Markers: Where can one get CHISEL tip markers that are water based, juicy, bold and economical? And one that has more than 8 colors in the range?
Chalk pastels: bold, strong colors, not too powdery, economical
Oil pastels: the cheap brands like Pro-art and Reeves are awful. Craypas Expressionist seems good; any other ideas?
White drawing paper that has some body to it, for pencil and color pencil work?
White drawing paper that will take marker without being too absorbent or too shiny?
thanks for any suggestions
Jillian Goldberg
Cary, North Carolina

[art4me]

I just ordered Portfolio Oil Pastels that work with water. Presenters came to the class - use them as pastels then go over with a brush and water or dip pastel directly in water. I am very leery of using paints because I usually end up cleaning since kids are on rotary and it is hard to keep tabs on 28 painters.

[montanarenegade]

I would suggest that you try several different brands of materials and give them a practical trying out. Then make your selections. Everybody will have a different reason liking or disliking certain products. As for nonconsumables, buy the very best quality equipment you can afford. Better to buy it once than to skimp on low-cost equipment and have to repurchase the same thing in a year or two.

[cricketswool]

Jillian,

I think MR. Sketch markers might meet your requirements. I'm not sure how many colors they come in, but they do come in chisel-tip and, as Tommie noted, they last much longer than other brands (making them very economical).

[Paulafv]

You can buy Loew Cornell oil pastels 72 for about $5-6 on line at Dick Blick's and divide them among the class with three colors each. They are brilliant on construction paper and superior to crayons in my opinion for small children.
Prang watercolors are less than $3 each and come with a decent brush. The color is good. Crayola colored pencils seem about as soft as artists pencils and their color is bright and deep. Nicer than most kids colored pencils. Dick Blick also has good construction paper and white paper for kids for varying $.

[cricketswool]

I just did side-by-side tests of several crayon brands on plain white paper. I used red, yellow, green, blue, and gray crayons for each brand. Crayola came out best (no surprise). Prang was also good, but they don't go on as smoothly as Crayola. Sargeant was surprising good -- just as smooth and opaque as Crayola. I had written them off before, but I might consider buying them in the future. Rose Art was very disappointing -- waxy, with poor depth of color.

[misharyan]

Jillian,
To me it's important to only have to order from a few places, instead of making tons of price comparisons, and placing several orders on consumables. (I admire those of you with that kind of dedication.) I get almost everything from Dick Blick. They have good prices, high quality, and carry most art supplies (except for my ceramics needs.)
Misha

[Coffee Break]

I'm a sophmore in high school, and my classroom is set up with Crayola crayons and markers, Pentel oil pastels, and student-grade faber-Castell coloured pencils.
we also have yarka brand student watercolour and blick brand acrylics.
Prang does not exist in my classroom.
I've done research, and most of these are available in classroom packs at Dickblick.com and for relatively affordable prices.

I'm happy with the brands we have, at least for my schoolwork.
(I, of course, opt for better supplies for my own personnal artwork. xD )

[saralindsey]

I shop at dickblick online, it's easy because my superintendent does the actual ordering. My students and I enjoy the portfolio brand pastels, they blend wonderfully come in classroom set, i divide up huge classroom set brushes into individual sets and check them out to upperclassmen in painting class and they replace the "set" if they aren't maintained. The best buy was the automatic paintbrush cleaner, it will recondition brushes and help the ones with a moderate amount of acrylic left in them. That is my secret weapon that my students don't know about, once a month I run the "classroom set" through it and it extends their life span a tad more.