Handy Mandy is a small, Kiwi-owned craft store in Morningside, Auckland — and we believe every kid in Aotearoa deserves a blank page and a full set of colours. We can't sponsor stadiums, so we do something better: we show up with art supplies.
The haul: Mont Marte paints, pads, markers and clay, ready for the tables
Special Children's Christmas Parties
Each Christmas we support the Special Children's Christmas Parties in Auckland — a free mega-party for children living with serious illness, disability, or tough circumstances. We run the art and craft tables, stocked with Mont Marte watercolours, markers, clay and paints, and every child takes their masterpiece home. Between the bouncy castles and the stormtroopers, our quiet corner of paper and paint is where a lot of kids settle in and shine — and honestly, it's our favourite day of the year. Read more on our news blog.
A whole school, in a library and then a school office
Omokoroa No 1 School is a small rural school near Tauranga — 320 students, New Entrants through to Year 8. Every one of them made a flower or a leaf, and the pieces were installed together as a community garden in the school library.
Every child in the school made a flower or a leaf
There was so much artwork left over that the school's librarian, Liz Wilde, built a second garden on ten of our 60 × 60cm canvases for the school office.
The second garden, up in the school office
“So gorgeous, and the kids love looking for their artwork. It's become quite a discussion point in our school office for parents and visitors.”
— Liz Wilde, librarian, Omokoroa No 1 School
We didn't do anything here except sell the canvases. We're putting it up because 320 kids finding their own flower on an office wall is the whole reason this shop exists.
Schools & kura
We supply schools, kura, and early childhood centres across NZ with classroom art supplies, NCEA materials, and bulk orders — with quotes on request and fast dispatch from Auckland. See School & Teacher Orders.
Ordering canvas for a class and not sure what to get? Our guide to judging a stretched canvas before you buy sets out what to check — weight, priming, corners, frame depth — including where our own cheaper ranges are and aren't the right call.
Running something creative? Talk to us
If you're organising a community art event, school gala, holiday programme, or creative fundraiser for kids — especially in Tāmaki Makaurau — we'd love to hear about it. Sometimes we can help with supplies, sometimes with spot prizes, and sometimes we'll just turn up with a table and a thousand markers.
Email info@handymandy.co.nz with what you're planning — a real person in Morningside reads every message.