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The Best Art Sets for Kids – Top 9 (2021 Reviews)

Art is one of the best ways for your child to flex their creative wings. No matter what kind of art your child prefers to create, you can decorate your house with the resulting masterpiece.

But which art set is the one for your child? And what are the attributes of the best art sets for kids? In this article, we’ll walk you through nine reviews of art sets, and explain why each is worth your aspiring Picasso’s time.

Drawing Stencils Art Set for Kids by Creativ’ Craft

If your child loves to doodle outside on a sunny day, they’ll love this nice colored pencil set. The set has a handful of upbeat colored pencils, a pair of carrying cases, a few sheets of paper, an eraser, and a bunch of gnarly stencils.

The drawing pencils are simple but effective. Everything in the kit is made of materials that are certified child safe, which is a huge bonus.

The stencils are the primary appeal of this kit; there are over 260 different shapes which your child can add to their drawings. Unfortunately, you’ll need to have extra paper on hand to supply your young artist, as there only a small number which comes with the kit.

Art 101 142-Piece Wood Art Set

The set is contained in a beautiful wooden case, which has a top-opening chest portion and also a drawer at the bottom. While there’s no easel or paper delivered with this set, it’s a small problem within a wonderful package.

Nearly everything else your child needs to launch their artistic career is contained in this set. A good representation of the spectrum is represented in the kit’s pencils, pastels, watercolors, and crayons. You won’t need to worry about purchasing pencil sharpeners, erasers, extra brushes, or palates.

Everything your child needs is included in the kit, except for paper or canvas.

This kit is a serious setup, however. Children who are interested in dabbling will probably be overwhelmed.

Crayola Inspiration Art Case Portable Art Studio

This is an art set with a lot of possibilities – in fact, it seems like it’s the art set intended for two separate children entirely. If you have a child who likes to use markers and another who likes to use drawing pencils or crayons, they can both get their fill of color selection with this kit.

Even if your two children both like the same materials, there are plenty in the kit to go around.

Critically, the markers supplied with the set wash off with a bit of soap and warm water. You won’t need to worry about your child getting unsightly stains on their clothes or leaving similar on furniture or carpets.

The markers themselves have a relatively short lifetime, and they aren’t of the best build quality, but they get the job done.

There isn’t much paper supplied with the Crayola Inspiration kit. Likewise, there isn’t a pencil sharpener, which means that you’ll need to supply one. Other than these issues, the kit is a strong introductory level entry into the market for children’s art sets.

Dauber Dawgs 8-pack Washable Dot Markers

The fatness of the Dot Marker’s tip is its biggest strength as well as its biggest weakness. With these markers, your children won’t be exhausting the ink from their other markers to fill in large areas, which is a constant problem.

The markers are fast drying, non-toxic, won’t spill, and are perfectly calibrated to the grip size of your child artist. These features make the Dot Markers stand out from the competition.

But these markers can’t exactly handle any detail work. Your child will need a different set of markers for detailing and creating fine lines if they want to do anything other than making dotted polka masterpieces.

As a nice plus, the set contains a free coloring book which is made specifically to fill in with the big markers. You can also download an additional set of coloring pages from the internet with a code enclosed in the kit.

If you’re looking for a supplemental marker set that will increase the efficiency of your child’s other markers, this might be the right art set. If you’re looking for a standalone marker set which will get your child started using markers to create art, you should probably look elsewhere.

Handy Art Little Masters Tempera Paints Set

This paint set is fairly minimal in what it provides. You can expect only the paints – no brushes, no canvases, no palates, and no other tools or consumables. You’ll need to procure those separately. As a result, this set isn’t the best choice for a one-stop shop that gets your child started with tempera paints.

Nonetheless, the paints in the set are high quality, disbursed in a generous quantity, and non-toxic. You might want to avoid your child covering their skin in this paint, but if they do, they’ll be okay.

This set is probably a better fit for children who are old enough to manage themselves around arts and crafts. The bottles won’t spill very much paint if they tip over, provided that the cap is on – but if the cap is off, all bets are off.

You may find yourself with an unremovable stain on a precious carpet or garment. Unlike with many other children’s art sets, you should make sure your child wears an apron or smock while being creative with these paints.

The set has six different colors, which means that it has all of the fundamental hues – red, blue, yellow, green, white, and black. Your child can mix the colors to create tones of their own, which is a huge plus.

Giving your child the freedom to create their colors opens up an entirely new horizon in the realm of creative play. Your child is no longer stuck on the rails of the colors that the kit manufacturer thought they should have.

Because this kit offers so much freedom, you may need to pay closer attention to your child when they use it than you might with other paint kits, at least at first.

If your child doesn’t understand how to effectively blend colors or how to distribute the proper amount of color onto their palate, it’s easy to create a big muddled mess while wasting a lot of paint in the process.

With a little bit of guidance, your child will figure out how to create the most vibrant colors they desire in no time.

Creativity for Kids Hide & Seek Rock Painting Kit

Your child will have the garden path decorated in no time with the Creativity for Kids Hide & Seek Rock Painting Kit. The set includes ten natural river rocks; however, you are free to adorn as many stones as you like with the materials.

The non-toxic paint is waterproof for long-lasting results. No additional sealant or glaze is needed. It comes in eight bright colors to which you can add 30+ rock transfer designs and tracking stickers. The paint conforms to safety standard ASTM D-4236.

The kit also includes two paintbrushes, a transfer sponge, and instructions and is designed for children over the age of six. Because this kit includes natural river rocks, they may not be as flat and smooth as you’d like. Any other stones can be used in place of them if they do not meet your standards.

Kid Made Modern New Arts and Crafts Library Set

With the Kid Made Modern New Arts and Crafts Library Set, your child can make pom-pom monsters, friendship bracelets, pipe cleaner crowns, jewelry, and more! This set of 1,250 pieces comes with a carrying case to keep things organized.

There are enough beads, sequins, fuzzy items, pom-poms, fabric, wooden dowels, embroidery floss, googly eyes, sticker back jewels, wooden discs, and craft rods to keep any child over the age of eight entertained for hours. The set also includes a pair of scissors, two needles, and a tube of glue.

Many of the supplies come wrapped so that your child will have the joy of discovery when it is crafting time. Compartments keep materials nicely organized. The carrying case also has a handle for fun on the go.

The Kid Made Modern New Arts and Crafts Library Set is designed to be eco-friendly. For that reason, it does not use blister packs nor traditional plastics. All plastic pieces are corn-based. The cardboard case is uncoated and biodegradable as well. Because it is made from untreated cardboard, the case itself may not hold up well under rough use.

MISULOVE Watercolor Paint Set

This watercolor cake paint set from MISULOVE has 42 vivid colors that blend effortlessly for a more vibrant color palette. The Italian paint is non-toxic, acid-free, quick to dry and fade resistant. It meets U.S. ASTM D-4236 and EU EN71 safety certificates.

The carrying case measures less than 8 inches when folded and has a snap-lock closure system to ensure nothing will get lost. The flexible nylon tipped brushes have their own water supply, eliminating the need to carry a jar. There are two round tip brushes and one flat tip brush for a variety of stroke options.

The case also contains a detachable sponge to mop up excess water and a palette for mixing colors. Each layer has a color chart to help your child choose just the right color. MISULOVE provides a 90-day money-back guarantee on this product.

Because this is designed to be a portable paint set, it may be smaller than some users would like making it more challenging to use in some instances.

Darice 131-Piece Premium Art Set

The Darice 131-Piece Premium Art Set includes 24 crayons, colored pencils and oil pastels, 36 markers, 12 watercolor cakes, and two tubes of white paint. It also contains a palette, pencil, paintbrush, sharpener, eraser, stapler, ruler, and scissors.

The wood storage case has a handle for portability and closes securely. Each article included has its own compartment for easy clean up while the storage container also works well as a travel desk.

The crayons, sharpener, scissors, and markers may not be of the highest caliber. As they wear out, you would do well to replace them with another brand, such as Crayola.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I look for in a kid’s art set?

It depends on what kind of art your child enjoys the most.

You can purchase drawing sets, painting sets, clay kits, pastels, and even embroidery kits. Figuring out which kind of art your child likes the most is easiest when you ask your child. It might be helpful to dabble in a few different types of art at a hobby shop before settling on a specific set to purchase.

Most of the materials used in art sets for kids are not of the greatest quality, but luckily it won’t be a big issue. When purchasing materials for your child to use to make art, you need to make sure that the components are non-toxic.

Even if components are non-toxic, you need to make sure your child isn’t going to eat them or accidentally spill them everywhere. Many art sets for kids have great carrying containers which mitigate the risk of stains.

Are art sets good for creative play?

It’s tough to beat the potential for creative play that art sets provide. No matter the media, your child’s imagination is their limit when it comes to making new art.

In fact, art sets are useful for more than mere creative play. Your child can learn an awful lot by trying to reproduce realism in their artwork – it’s a different skill from creative play, but it’s just as important if they’re trying to pin down their techniques.

When your child decides to create something with their art set, it might not always turn out exactly in the way that they want. That’s creativity for you – it can be unpredictable, and difficult to turn vision into results.

The most important role that you play as a parent is encouraging your child, even when their art doesn’t turn out exactly in the way they thought it would. With your beneficial presence, your children will make the most out of the opportunity to be creative, and they’ll grow as a person as a result.

Which brands of art sets are the best?

Unlike with other kinds of toy sets for children, companies who produce real art materials also produce high quality art sets for kids. The price is slightly higher than the art sets produced by companies who cater exclusively to children, but the difference in quality is palpable.

Stay on the lookout for big names in art supply to see if they’re selling an art set for your child.

What can I do to help my child enjoy their art set?

Aside from providing a lot of encouragement, there are a few things which you can do to help your child enjoy their art set. First, you can offer your child with ideas about what to create.

Children are rarely short on ideas, but they often have trouble picking between ideas that they like. Talk it through with your child and see which idea seems to be their favorite and send them on their merry way.

Children rarely ask for critiques of their artwork, but when they do, be gentle but accurate. It might be prudent to step in with your hand over your child’s on the brush to help them correct the issue if they aren’t sure what you’re trying to tell them with your suggestion.

What are watercolor cakes?

Watercolor paints can come in rectangular or circular shapes. The circular variety of colors is called a ‘cake.’ They are dry to the touch until water is added. A little water will loosen up the pigment so that the paint can be used.

They should not be entirely immersed in water. Instead, a brush should be used to add just a drop or two of water and then mix. Be sure to clean the brush before using it on a different color cake to avoid paint transference.

What should I do with my child’s artwork?

Although it is the temptation of any parent to keep every piece of creative art that their child produces, at some point, this becomes impractical. It’s important to remember that it is the art creation process that is important for creative development, not the hoarding of art.

When your child presents you with his or her latest endeavor, be sure to praise the work genuinely. If you have an area to display it, do so. You can hang it on the fridge or place it on a shelf. After a time, or when a new piece of art is crafted, replace the old with the new. If your child is insistent on keeping the item, do so. Otherwise, give it to another friend or relative or quietly dispose of it.

Are art supplies toxic?

Most art supplies designed for children are non-toxic. Be sure to read the labeling carefully if you are unsure.

Children under the age of eight should not use small craft items such as beads, wires, and sticks. Most manufacturers have a recommended age listed on the packaging of the product to help guide you in your art set selection. Smaller items such as these may be ingested by younger children presenting a health and safety hazard.

What is the best way to clean up art supplies?

If an art set comes with its own storage case, your child should be responsible enough to return the items to their specific compartments, which prevents small pieces from being lost and paints from drying out.

Clean up should be included as part of the arts and crafts time allotment. Parents may assist, but the child should do the bulk of the work. It encourages the child to take responsibility for his or her crafting tools and supplies.

Paint, marker and crayon marks can be wiped up with soapy water and a sponge while glitter and glue can also be cleaned off in this manner. Paintbrushes should be cleaned with hand soap rather than dish soap before the paint dries.

Starting The Artist’s Life

You’re ready to pick a great art set for your child and foster their brilliance. Once children get going with their art sets, they can be hard to stop.

Stay positive and be ready to purchase more art supplies for your child once they get going with their hobby. Encourage them to stick with it, and don’t be afraid to offer them a little advice from time to time.