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    31 Genius Hacks For Your Elementary School Art Class

    Kids need art.

    1. Store your leftover tempera paints in sauce containers.

    2. Use rice to clean dirty pastel chalk.

    3. Use a water squeeze bottle with your tempera paint cakes.

    4. Keep paint in condiment bottles that kids can dispense independently.

    Hand soap dispensers work, too, if you're into upcycling.

    5. Let kids blot paint on wet sponges.

    6. Need to gesso some canvases?

    7. Have kids draw with white crayon and then watercolor over their designs.

    It's called "crayon resist" and it'll blow your kids' minds!

    8. Use Starbucks cups as no-spill paint cups.

    9. Turn your broken crayons into new crayons.

    Get the full instructions here.

    10. Repurpose makeup sponges to make your own dot dabbers.

    BINGO! Directions here.

    11. Use plastic baggies on your water/paint cups to make cleanup a breeze.

    12. Use colored sticker dots to keep track of supplies.

    Each table/group gets their own coordinated color — so no more mix-ups!

    13. Soak your dried out markers to make watercolors.

    14. Use a crab claw-cracker to undo tough glue caps.

    15. Put glue caps on your acrylic paint bottles so kids can write with them.

    16. Mix 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of water, and food coloring in a condiment bottle to create cheap and easy paint.

    17. A pencil eraser makes a great makeshift cap for paint or glue.

    18. Soak your glue caps in a little vegetable oil to keep them from clogging.

    Your caps will be much easier to unclog, and they will clog less frequently. Full directions here.

    19. Use an emery board to make a dirty old eraser just like new again.

    20. Make your paintbrushes last longer by washing them with conditioner.

    21. Store leftover paint in egg cartons in a plastic tupperware container.

    22. Kids can make super easy picture frames out of construction paper.

    23. It's incredibly messy, but did you know you can freeze tempera paint?

    24. Display the art and cards that students give you.

    25. Make your own watercolors out of just two ingredients.

    26. Use a dropper to make a huge array of watercolor shades.

    27. Use painter's tape and hot glue to hang artwork on the wall without taking paint off.

    28. Use a magic eraser to clean the bottom of dirty crayon bins.

    It comes right off!

    29. Make a cheaper version of foam brushes using clothespins.

    30. Cut a sheet of sandpaper to sharpen scissors.

    31. Portable caddies makes distribution of materials as well as clean-up super easy.

    Your ticket to an organized art classroom starts here.

    For more elementary school teacher hacks, check out "Clever Classroom Tips" and "Money-Saving DIYs for the Classroom."