Let's discuss palettes, one of the all-important tools for painting! In fact, unless you squeeze, drip or splatter your paint directly from the tube onto the canvas, you will need a palette. An artist palette is the surface upon which you squeeze out and mix the paint. Traditionally, an artist's palette was a wooden board with a hole for the thumb, so that artists could hold it whilst painting. These days, palettes come in all different sizes and shapes and are made from all kinds of different materials! Each has their pros and cons.

Oval Plastic Palette with Little Mixing Wells

Here is another kind of artist palette. This one is in the traditional palette shape, with the thumbhole for easy holding. It's made of white plastic and contains a number of small convex "mixing wells". If you normally mix small (really small) amounts of color each time, and want to keep them separate from each other, then this palette might work well for you. Personally I don't like the little mixing wells, because I like to be able to mix my colors together more easily and freely.
Because it's plastic, you do need to be careful about not letting the paints dry on the palette, as it can be difficult to clean after the paint has hardened. A thorough wash after use should be fine!

Wooden Artist Palette

Here we go - the traditional, iconic wooden artist palette, as used by artists in the "old days"! I have to admit I have never used one of those, mostly because I figured once the acrylic dries on the wood, it's pretty much there forever. They say that these are easy to clean though, so it might be worth a try - at least just for experiencing how the Old Masters used to work!