[D]o fingerpainting with toddlers in the backyard, right before dunking them in the blow-up splash pool.
The Crayola Color Wonder stuff is great for taking on outings or when you don't want to deal with a mess, but the colors fade and don't last. Plus the colors don't match the caps exactly.
Brown paper bags are a great, free source of paper for doodles, especially with crayons, but don't show color very well for markers.
Little kids often prefer or even need HUGE pieces of paper or canvas (think brown paper bags, sidewalks for chalk, or big rolls of drawing paper); older kids often like smaller or even tiny projects, like making a mini-book or practicing micrography (Hebrew or English). (BTW Micrography--the art of writing texts in very tiny handwriting, often in shapes illustrating the text--has a long history in Jewish art, and I've known many a middle-schooler to fall in love with it as a hobby.)
Michaels' art supply has a great e-mail list for coupons, including 40% offs regularly and (recently) 20% off total purchase.
Teeny tiny kids can often be controlled during messy projects by doing them on their high-chair tray.
Even little kids should help with clean-up. [My] 21 m/o...already wipes up the floor or his high-chair tray, sponges his bath-paint doodles off the shower wall, and cheerfully puts things in the trash.
There is a product Crayola makes that is perfect if you follow up and use brown shopping bags (inside of cereal boxes, too) for coloring. They are called Crayola Gel Markers and are widely available. Crayola also has a new, fun product: Washable WINDOW markers!
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