Paint Organization and Distribution Tips

 Here are some quick tips to make paint distribution and storage easier in your high school art class. This system has worked for me in a 41 minute period setting and a 78 minute block setting. For reference, this is a small classroom (no walk in closet) and another teacher uses my room during another block as well.

Option 1: Individual palettes. I have a shelf for students to keep their palettes on. Assigning a numbered spot let's them know that I know who's being messy. I can fit 20 of the 7" round palettes with wells on each shelf. 

Pro: cuts down on waste. Easy to save mixed colors

Con: have to mist with water and wrap palette daily. 

Option 2: Cups of paint. I have a tin of each primary, secondary and neutral color. Each pair of students gets 1 cup of each color to share. They access it from a communal table. At end of class they return the cup. I mist all tins with water and put the lid on. You can also add a wet sponge to keep paints moist over a long weekend. For my upper levels I have two kids share one of these tins for the duration of the project.

Pro: These stack neatly and take up less room than traditional palettes.

You could also use cheap dollar store pencil cases

Con: Students will need palette paper, you need to buy and replace the cups or trim the palette paper to fit the size of the box.

Tip: I keep the wax / palette paper in a readily accessible location for quick self service.

For paintbrushes you can try the over the door shoe hanger. I number each kit and each pouch space. 

At the end of class I can scan quickly to see who's missing. Also, I don't have enough for every student. Student #5 in my first class shares with Student #5 in my second class. I tell them to let me know if the brush is dirty at the beginning of class. Then I make a note to speak to that student the next day. It only takes 1 or 2 kids for them to realize that they can't get away with not washing brushes.

Pro: kids check brushes instead of you, saving time.

Con: brushes not cleaned last period of day will be gross the next day

Fun Fact: sometimes students tell on themselves. I had a kid show me a horrible brush. When I looked to see who shared the set, the student in the other class was absent. So he was the last to use (and not clean) the brushes.