Tinkerspace Essentials
Gift Guides | Loose Parts Play, Open-Ended Materials & Creative Exploration for Kids of All Ages
A tinkerspace is a space where kids can touch things, combine things, take things apart, and make something out of nothing. It is messy, open-ended, and completely driven by the child. You set it up. They do the rest.
The materials in this guide are the ones I use and recommend. Some are kitchen tools. Some are art supplies. Some are outdoor furniture. All of them have earned their place by being useful, interesting to kids, and open-ended enough to be used in a dozen different ways.
Whether you are setting up a corner of the yard, a dedicated patio space, or something in between, this list will help you build a tinkerspace that gets used.
WHAT CAN I HELP YOU FIND?
The Setup: Furniture & Outdoor Space
Water & Liquid Play Tools
Pouring, Measuring & Transferring
Grinding, Crushing & Transforming
Art & Color Materials
Loose Parts & Natural Materials
The Setup: Furniture & Outdoor Space
Why I chose it: This can be the anchor of an outdoor tinkerspace. Kids cook, mix, pour, and experiment for hours. It gives the whole setup structure and purpose without prescribing what they have to make. Get it when the kids are young, they’ll use it for years to come. Worth every bit of the investment.
Why I chose it: Skip the paper altogether and let kids drip or spray paint, draw with paint sticks and dry-erase markers directly onto this easel. Hose it down at the end of the day.
Outdoor Storage Cabinet Waterproof with Shelves
Why I chose it: This cabinet keeps materials protected from the elements and organized by type. Close it up when it rains, open it up when it is time to play.
Why I chose it: A rug defines the space. It tells kids this is where we work. Easy to sweep off and hose down when things get messy.
Why I chose it: A low work surface is ideal for play. Kids can stand or sit, spread materials out, and work at a height that makes sense for them.
Folding Lightweight Step Stool
Why I chose it: Reaches the water dispenser, the high shelf, the sink. Gives kids access to their own materials without needing an adult every five minutes.
Why I chose it: A mirror in the tinkerspace adds a sensory layer kids do not get anywhere else. They watch themselves mix, pour, and create. It reflects light, adds visual interest, and deepens the sensory experience of the space. They can paint on it, wash it, and work in front of it.
Water & Liquid Play Tools
3 Gallon Plastic Beverage Dispenser with Spigot
Why I chose it: Gives kids independent access to water without turning on a hose or asking an adult.
Why I chose it: No hose needed, keeps kids in charge and adults in the background.
Why I chose it: Kids spray watercolors onto paper, mist chalk art on the pavement, water plants, or just experiment with how water moves.
Why I chose it: Fill it with liquid soap, liquid watercolor, or anything else that benefits from a measured pump. Kids love the controlled dispense, and it keeps materials from getting wasted or spilled all at once.
Why I chose it: Use it for water play, mixing, collecting loose parts, or containing messy projects.
Why I chose it: Keep a stack within reach for play and for cleanup.
Pouring, Measuring & Transferring
Why I chose it: Colorful, stackable, and the right size for mixing small batches of paint, potions, or whatever the experiment calls for.
Individual Condiment Sauce Cups
Why I chose it: Kids fill them, line them up, pour between them and scoop and dump.
Why I chose it: A must-have for any water or liquid station.
Plastic Graduated Cylinders and Beakers
Why I chose it: Measuring, comparing volumes, mixing, and observing- the best for making potions!
Why I chose it: The perfect size for little hands.
Why I chose it: Nest them, stack them, strain through them. The sieve alone opens up a whole category of experimentation: what passes through and what does not? Indoors or outdoors, this set earns its spot.
Why I chose it: Small scoops for transferring and digging. The silicone is flexible enough for little hands and durable enough to last.
Why I chose it: Squeeze, release, repeat.
Why I chose it: Keep multiples so kids never have to stop and wash between colors. Works on paper, wood, rocks, pavement, whatever they find.
Why I chose it: Add soap and water and let them go. Foam, bubbles, and deeply satisfying hand work.
Why I chose it: Stir, mix, whip. Kids love using a real kitchen tool.
Why I chose it: Simple and completely open-ended. Works in water, sand, dirt, and play-dough. You can never have too many.
Grinding, Crushing & Transforming
Why I chose it: Crush chalk, grind flowers, pulverize grass.
Why I chose it: Grate chalk into powder, shave soap into flakes. A kitchen tool with a serious second life outside.
Why I chose it: Hand-crank, watch it transform. Children grind up chalk, weeds, flowers, you name it. They all LOVE this tool.
Why I chose it: If you dont want them to use a sharp tool for grating chalk, a steady back and forth motion against the sieve will get them same chalk powder as a sharp tool.
Why I chose it: Safe enough for kids, satisfying enough to keep them coming back. Play dough, clay, mud kitchen vegetables.
Why I chose it: Crush chalk, pound clay, or just make things happen in the mud kitchen.
Art & Color Materials
Why I chose it: Add to water play, mix with shaving foam, you only need a few drops. One bottle goes a very long way.
Why I chose it: Just add a wet brush. No lids to lose, no cups to knock over. Paint on anything.
Kwik Stix Solid Tempera Paint Sticks
Why I chose it: No brushes, no water. Twist and go. Dries fast and works on almost any surface and washed off clothes, skin and smooth surfaces with a soapy rag. .
Cone Shaped Washable Sidewalk Chalk
Why I chose it: The cone shape fits little hands and the quantity means no one is rationing colors.
Why I chose it: Squirt onto a tray, add liquid watercolor, fill a sensory bin. Kids will know what to do.
Why I chose it: Grate it, foam it, add it to water play. Simple and inexpensive with a lot of uses.
Why I chose it: Squeeze them, cut them, use them at the base of a bun of soapy water.. Kids always find a use you didn't expect and the large size makes them great for large surfaces.
Why I chose it: Different texture and weight than synthetic.
Loose Parts & Natural Materials
Why I chose it: Drop them into any setup and the play immediately gets more interesting.
Why I chose it: Sort, arrange, paint on them, build with them, wash them.
Why I chose it: Canvas, platform, building material, art project. Completely open-ended and they never get old.
