Written by Paul Worrall
I have two kids at home in Poulton-le-Fylde — Zach, who’s nine, and Nancy, who’s six — and I’ve spent sixteen years in the art supplies industry. That combination makes me either the best or the worst person to write this guide, depending on whether you ask me or my wife Lucy, who has strong opinions about the state of our kitchen table on a Sunday afternoon. What I can tell you is that I know which art supplies for kids are genuinley good and which are a waste of money, because I’ve watched both kinds get used, ignored, eaten and occasionally drawn on walls in our house over the years.
I run Discount Art Supplies — a price comparison platform used by over 36,000 artists and crafters every week — and before that I spent nearly a decade as Digital Marketing Manager at ARTdiscount, one of the UK’s largest online art retailers. This is a genuinley honest guide, not a list of whatever pays the best commision. Here are the best art supplies for kids in the UK, broken down by age group.
⭐ Quick Picks — Best Art Supplies for Kids by Age
Toddlers (1-3): Crayola Washable Crayons — washable, non-toxic, chunky enough for small hands.
Ages 3-6: Faber-Castell Connector Paint Box — the best starter watercolour set for young children.
Ages 6-10: Crayola Supertips + Staedtler Noris Coloured Pencils — the combination that covers everything.
Ages 10+: Daler-Rowney Simply Watercolour Set or Posca Paint Markers for something different.
What to Look for in Art Supplies for Kids — Before You Buy Anything
A few things that matter more than brand name when you’re buying art supplies for children. Non-toxic is non-negotiable for anything going anywhere near young children — look for EN71 certification on the packaging, which is the European standard for toy safety. Washable is almost as important for anything used by under-sevens — the difference between a washable marker and a permanent one on your kitchen table or your child’s school uniform is not trivial. I speak from bitter experiance on this, having spent a memorable Saturday morning explaining to Lucy why the dining room table had orange streaks across it.
Age appropriateness matters more than most parents realise. Supplies that are too advanced frustrate children rather than inspiring them — fine-tipped pens for a four year old, or professional watercolours that require careful brush technique, are more likely to put a child off art than encourage it. Start simpler than you think you need to and let the child tell you when they’re ready for something more demanding. The reverse is also true — supplies that are too babyish for an older child who’s genuinley interested in art will make them feel patronised. Know your child.
Quality matters more than price — up to a point. Very cheap coloured pencils that snap every time you sharpen them, or washable paints that produce muddy colours regardless of how carefully you mix them, are demotivating. The best budget options on this list are genuinley good. The very cheapest multipack art sets you’ll find on Amazon or in pound shops often aren’t.
Best Art Supplies for Toddlers (Ages 1-3)
Washable is the entire brief at this age. Nothing else matters as much. The Crayola range for toddlers — specifically the My First Crayola Palm Grasp Crayons, designed to be held in a fist rather than gripped between fingers — is the right starting point for children under three. They’re chunky enough to survive enthusiastic small-hand use, genuinley washable from most surfaces, non-toxic, and available at a sensible price. We went through several sets of these when Nancy was small and they genuinley washed off everything — including, memorably, a cream sofa cushion.
Finger paints are the other staple at this age — and again, washability is everything. Crayola Washable Finger Paints are the ones I’d reccommend — genuinely washable from skin and most hard surfaces. Put a plastic tablecloth down, strip the child to a vest, and accept that this is an activity with a cleanup phase. The creative engagement at this age is about sensory experience rather than finished art — the process is the point, not the product.
What to avoid at this age: anything with small parts (choking risk), anything permanent, anything that requires fine motor control they don’t have yet, and honestly most of the multipack “complete art sets” marketed at this age group. They contain way more than a toddler can use and most of it ends up wasted or broken within a week.
→ Buy Crayola Washable Crayons on Amazon
Best Art Supplies for Ages 3-6
This is where it gets interesting. Between three and six, children develop enough fine motor control to actually direct where marks go, which opens up a much wider range of materials. Nancy is six and I can tell you from real life that this age has a genuinley impressive appetite for art supplies — the challenge is keeping up without spending a fortune. The Faber-Castell Connector Paint Box is the best starter watercolour set I know of at this age — twelve bright, mixable colours in a format that clicks together with other sets if you want to expand, with a built-in mixing tray and a brush included. Nancy’s been using one for over a year and it’s still going strong despite her best efforts.
Crayola Supertips markers are possibly the single most versatile art supply for this age group — the tip produces both fine lines and broader marks depending on pressure, the colours are bright and consistent, they’re washable, and they’re cheap enough that losing a few lids doesn’t matter. We’ve gone through more sets of these in our house than I can count. Both Nancy and Zach treat them as semi-disposable and the price point means they kind of are.
Coloured pencils at this age should be thick-barrelled — the Staedtler Noris Junior range or the Faber-Castell Grip range are both excellent, with triangular barrels that are genuinley easier for small hands to hold corectly. Standard slim pencils are frustrating for children whose grip isn’t fully developed yet. Expect pencils to get broken. Buy a sharpener at the same time.
FIMO Kids polymer clay is worth mentioning here — the softer formulation is genuinley manageable for this age group, it bakes hard in a domestic oven, and it’s a great alternative activity to flat-surface art. Our Fimo brand page has current price comparison across UK retailers if you want to find the best deal.
Best Art Supplies for Ages 6-10
This is the age range where genuine artistic interest tends to emerge or not — and having the right supplies makes a real difference to which way it goes. Zach is nine and this is very much where he lives right now. He’ll sit and draw for an hour if the supplies are right and lose interest in twenty minutes if they’re not. Children in this range are capable of more sustained creative work and more technical control, which means the materials can meaningfully step up in quality.
The Staedtler Noris colouring pencil range is the sweet spot for this age — proper coloured pencils with good pigment quality, robust enough to survive school bags, and priced reasonably enough that you don’t panic when they get lost. The 36-colour set is the right size — enough range to feel exciting without being overwhelming. Zach has been using Staedtler pencils for two years now and they’ve genuinley improved his drawings — the colours lay down properly rather than looking faint and scratchy the way very cheap pencils do.
Watercolour is genuinely rewarding for children in this age range who show artistic interest. The Daler-Rowney Simply Watercolour set is an excellent step up from a basic paint box without being intimidating or expensive. It teaches proper watercolour technique because the paint actually behaves correctly — something the very cheapest sets don’t do. Compare prices on our Daler-Rowney price comparison.
Sketchbooks matter more than most parents realise. A child who’s genuinley interested in drawing will fill sketchbooks at a remarkable rate — and a good quality sketchbook with proper cartridge paper that takes pencil and pen without tearing makes the whole experience more satisfying. The Hobbycraft own-brand sketchbooks are genuinley good value. The Derwent range is better still if they’re serious about it.
Baker Ross craft kits deserve a mention for this age group — particularly for children who like making things as much as drawing. The range of themed activity kits and craft projects is enormous, the quality is consistantly better than most craft kit brands, and the price points are accesible. Check our deals page for any current Baker Ross promotions.
Best Art Supplies for Ages 10 and Over
By ten, a child who’s genuinley interested in art deserves to be taken seriously rather than fobbed off with children’s ranges. The best thing you can do for an artistically engaged ten-year-old is give them access to materials that are actually good rather than age-labelled. Most professional art supplies brands are perfectly safe for children of this age and the quality difference is imediately noticeable to a child who cares about their work.
Posca paint markers are a brilliant choice for this age range and above — water-based paint in a marker format, opaque on almost any surface including paper, card, wood, fabric and stone, available in a huge colour range and genuinley fun to use. They’re not a children’s product but they’re perfectly appropriate and they open up a completely different kind of mark-making to pencils and brushes. Zach has been using Posca markers on everything from sketchbooks to old trainers and the results have been genuinley impressive — not something I’d say about most kids’ art output, as any honest parent will tell you.
For watercolour at this age, the Winsor & Newton Cotman range is the step up worth making. Cotman is the student-grade line from one of the world’s great art materials manufacturers — proper pigment, proper paper sizing response, proper mixing behaviour. A child who’s been on basic paint boxes will notice the difference imediately. Compare prices on our Cotman price comparison.
Coloured pencils for a serious ten-year-old upwards: the Faber-Castell Polychromos or Derwent Coloursoft ranges are the UK benchmarks. Not cheap, but genuinley excellent — oil-based pigment that layers and blends properly rather than leaving waxy smears. A set of 24 from either range is a meaningfull gift for a child who draws seriously. Compare prices on our coloured pencils comparison page.
Where to Buy Kids Art Supplies in the UK — and How to Save
Hobbycraft is the most convenient high street option — good range across all age groups, Click and Collect from 180+ UK stores, and their student discount (10% via UNiDAYS) is worth using for older children. Check our Hobbycraft discount code guide before every order. Amazon is often the cheapest on sets and multipacks — all the Amazon affiliate links in this article will take you directly to the right products at current prices. Cass Art has the best selection for older children moving into serious art materials. The Range and The Works are worth checking for budget basics.
Kids Art Supplies — Quick Summary by Age
Toddlers (1-3): Crayola Washable Crayons. Washable and non-toxic are the only criteria that matter.
Ages 3-6: Faber-Castell Connector Paint Box, Crayola Supertips, thick-barrelled coloured pencils. Bright colours and easy-to-grip formats.
Ages 6-10: Staedtler Noris coloured pencils, Daler-Rowney Simply watercolours, a proper sketchbook. Good materials matter at this age.
Ages 10+: Posca paint markers, Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolours, Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils. Take their interest seriously.
