Ultimate Guide | 10 Art Supplies Kids Love!

By Spramani Elaun

This year I spent thousands of hours painting and drawing all over the West Coast with children of all ages.

I introduced many new art supply products in my museum workshops, art conferences and classes.

I was able to see first hand what art supplies kids loved and thrive on!

So in this blog I’m going to give you a list of the Ultimate 10 top art supplies kids love!

All ten supplies of course follow my extreme guide to being quality, safe, non-toxic and perfect for young artist.

Doodling, drawing, painting and clay modeling where the top favorite projects kids loved working on.

This ultimate art supply list supports all of those activities.

10 Ultimate Art Supplies Kids love!

Square block Crayons – Colour Blocks

Thick Natural Wood Color Pencils

Soft Pastels

Oil Pastels

Watercolor Soluble Pencils

Watercolor Soluble Crayons

Dry watercolor cake palette – 36 colors

Modeling Non-Harden Clay

Acrylic Paint – Kids Student Grade Only

Liquid Watercolor/Finger Paint

1. Square Block Crayons

Square block crayons were a major hit, both our recycled crayons, Colour Blocks and Stockmar’s beeswax blocks.

Kids love to color big wide areas quickly with square crayons.

Map making and leaf rubbings were the favorites.

These square crayons come in an array of colors.

The other thing great about these lovely square block crayons, they last a long time unlike traditional shaped crayons.

There’s something special about the square shape kids love. I recommend these crayons for 15 months and up.

Order square block crayons here.

2. Thick Natural Wood Color Pencils

I can’t tell how many times I saw kids faces light up when they got their hands on these thick beautiful color pencils.

Thick color pencils work great because kids can hold on to them with ease and press really hard.

The pigments are also nice and rich in color kids prefer.

We use both the short and long ones in all my classes and events.

Kids under 8 years love the small short ones to grip better with.

The other thing great about these beautiful color pencils they last for years and drawing tips don’t break off often.

These also come in sorted colors and packages. All ages can enjoy color pencils, I recommend for three years and up.

Order color pencils here.

3. Soft Pastels

The most favored quality of a pastels is the strength and richness of this medium. Kids loved how bright and intense pastels make their drawings. Pastels can be described similar to floor chalk, very dusty and feels like chalk to the touch. The other fun thing kids loved was using their hands to blend the pastels together. Major favorite! Pastels come in a wide spectrum of colors. I recommend for kids six years and up.

Order soft pastels here.

4. Oil Pastels

Oil pastels are more greaser than a soft pastel, but even more bold in color. Kids loved how these glide so smoothly on paper and are so easy to use. Oil pastels don’t feel like soft pastels, but more like a wax crayon. We had so many fun drawings done by kids with oil pastels. I recommend for kids six years and up.

Order oil pastels here.

5. Watercolor Pencils

A new medium on the market, a color pencil becomes water soluble when you brush over it with a wet paintbrush. Pencil marks turn into watercolor. Young kids were so fascinated how these beautiful pencils doubled as two mediums. An absolute favorite this year in my classes and workshops. These come large or short length. I recommend for kids 3 years and up.

6. Watercolor Crayons

This is also new to the market, crayons that dissolve with a wet paintbrush. These create bright intense paintings. They color like regular crayons or maybe an oil pastel, but turn into instant paint when wet with a paintbrush. These did well with my younger students, because it’s just like using a regular crayon. I recommend for three years to 12 years, I love using these too!

7. Dry watercolor cake palette

The most favorite feature of these bright watercolor cakes is there are so many colors available instantly. Plus when I explain to parents that this is the most non messy way kids can do tons of painting it was the parents voted favorite. Super easy for kids to use, just need water, paper and a paintbrush. My students loved using this set to make fun quick watercolor paintings or fill in drawings with this easy to use paint palette.

8. Modeling Cay

This clay got all my student engaged and excited. This modeling clay is super soft and malleable to the touch. All ages including toddlers could use this clay easily. The kids had such a blast using this clay in all my clay workshops. This clay does not dry and harden, stays soft and can be recycled into any shape. We made so many different miniature creations with this medium. The kids absolutely loved this type of clay and wanted more time with it! Non-harden clay comes in a great variety of colors to choose from.

9. Acrylic Paint

All my students got super excited when they got to use acrylic on a real canvas. This earth-friendly acrylic was used on many projects like, rock painting, murals and wood crafts besides just canvas. When kids had a choice in projects acrylic painting was hands down the number one favorite activity to do in my art classes and workshops.

10. Liquid Washable Watercolor – Mixing Finger Paint

My young students loved using this beautiful bright primary liquid watercolor finger paint which mixes perfectly into secondary colors like purple, orange and green. Very tactile and fun to use. It was the favorite to learn to mix colors with. I recommend this paint for toddler to teen. Washable and easy to use!

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