About Childrens House Art

Childrens House has supplied schools for twenty-one years. That is the difference between a catalogue and a supplier — knowing that a Grade R class needs broad brushes rather than fine ones, that powder tempera is cheaper but needs a sink, that acrylic on a school shirt is permanent, and that most schools order to a budget cycle rather than a shopping list.

We work to the curriculum. We have advised schools on materials for the Creative Arts requirements of CAPS across the foundation, intermediate and senior phases. If you are ordering to a teaching plan rather than a list, tell us what you are covering and we will suggest what fits the phase and the budget.

Age-appropriate by design. Materials are not interchangeable across phases. Dala rates several products for ages three and up; others suit older students because of permanence rather than safety. We can tell you which is which — and our category pages set it out.

Built around how schools actually buy. Budgets are annual, approvals take time, and orders are placed against a purchase order rather than a card. We quote, you approve, and nothing is committed until you accept it. Volume discounts apply to the order total, so consolidating a year's ordering into one requisition costs you less.

Locally made, which matters more than it sounds. Dala manufactures in South Africa. The materials travel a fraction of the distance an imported equivalent does, there is no exchange rate movement between quotation and delivery, and a school reordering mid-term is not waiting on a container.

We are an authorised distributor for Dala, South Africa's own art materials manufacturer.

The products are designed by the people who make them. Dala is founder-run, and its ranges are developed and formulated in-house rather than badged from another manufacturer. When we have a question about how a product behaves, we ask the person who formulated it.

Certified for classrooms. Dala's acrylic range, including the economy Student Acrylic line, is certified non-toxic and lead-free for classroom environments.

It is made for schools. Several products are designed for classroom use outright — Powder Glue that mixes to the quantity a lesson needs, School Cold Glue built for value, Flow Acrylic in squeeze bottles, and a clay slicer made so that teachers get consistent portions.

We handle customs. Export orders to Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique are managed by us — export documentation, bill of entry and waybill included. Schools outside South Africa order the same way as schools inside it.

Export orders are zero-rated for VAT. Deliveries outside South Africa carry no VAT. Freight is quoted separately, and customs duties differ by destination — SACU members pay none, and SADC tariffs apply to Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

We quote rather than check out. Schools buy against budgets and purchase orders, not credit cards. Build a list, send it, and we come back with a formal quotation including delivery.

Volume discounts apply automatically, from 5% at R5,000 to 20% at R150,000, calculated on the order total rather than per line — so mixing products and sizes across one order does not reduce your discount.

Orders ship direct from the manufacturer, which keeps lead times short. One week from confirmed order within South Africa; export lead times vary by destination and are confirmed on quotation.

If you cannot find something, ask — we can source materials that are not in the online catalogue.

This catalogue is run separately from childrenshouse.co.za, our Montessori materials site.