Art Supplies Gift Guide: 50 Quality Art Supplies for Kids, Teens and Adults

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There’s a particular kind of magic in opening a brand-new box of art supplies. The colors lined up in perfect rows, the untouched tips, the smell of fresh paper. For a child, it’s an invitation. For a teen, it can be the moment they start taking their art seriously. For an adult, it’s often permission to finally make the time to create.

But art supplies are also one of the easiest gifts to get wrong. Walk down any craft aisle and you’ll find giant all-in-one kits with a hundred tiny tools that don’t quite work, markers that dry out in a week and paper so thin it tears the moment it gets wet. When kids use tools that fight them, they often decide they’re the problem. Good supplies do the opposite. They make the art feel possible.

This art supplies gift guide is organized to make choosing easy. You’ll find 50 quality art supplies across three budgets (stocking stuffers, mid-range gifts and big splurges), grouped by medium: drawing, painting, clay and sculpture, printmaking, mixed media, and storage. I’ve noted who each one suits best, whether that’s a little one just starting out, a teen who’s ready for artist-grade materials, a homeschool family stocking an art shelf, or an adult rediscovering the joy of making.

How to Choose Art Supplies as a Gift

Quality over quantity, every time. A small set of good oil pastels will teach a child more about blending than a giant kit of waxy ones ever could. When you’re deciding between a huge set of an unknown brand and a smaller set from a trusted art brand, the smaller set is usually the better gift.

Match the supply to the stage. Younger kids (roughly preschool through early elementary) do best with washable, chunky, forgiving materials: crayons, washable markers, tempera paint sticks, air-dry clay. Older elementary kids are ready for real watercolor, oil pastels and basic printmaking. Teens and adults will appreciate artist-grade tools such as professional colored pencils, alcohol markers and quality acrylics. If you’re not sure, pick something one step up from what they’re already using.

Think about the mess and the space. A homeschool family with a dedicated art table can handle clay and acrylics. A small apartment might be happier with colored pencils, watercolor pencils or a pocket watercolor set. Washable formulas are a gift to the grown-ups, too.

Paper matters more than people think. Watercolor on printer paper buckles and pills. Pair paint with real watercolor paper, and drawing tools with a good sketch or mixed media pad, and the results improve immediately.

Give an idea along with the supplies. A new set of materials is even more exciting with a project to try. That’s one reason I created my Free Art Lesson Library: it’s full of seasonal art lessons and printables that pair beautifully with the supplies in this guide, for classrooms and homeschool families alike.

Get the Free Art Lesson Library

Art Supply Stocking Stuffers

Small, budget-friendly art supplies that punch well above their price. Several are the same kinds of materials you’ll see in the photos from my own art lessons.

Drawing

STAEDTLER Mars Lumograph Sketching Set: Six graphite pencils in different grades, plus a mini eraser and sharpener. It’s a perfect first “real artist” drawing set for an older child, teen or adult who wants to learn shading, with softer B grades for dark values and harder grades for clean lines.

Pentel Oil Pastels, 50 Colors: Oil pastels are a wonderful material for kids because the colors are so bright and they blend with just a fingertip. This 50-color set gives plenty of choice without a big price tag, and it’s a wonderful match for winter art projects on dark paper.

Crayola Twistables Colored Pencils (24 Count): Colored pencils that twist up instead of needing a sharpener. Great for younger kids and for car trips, since there’s nothing to sharpen and nothing to break.

Crayola Ultra Clean Washable Markers (40 Count): Forty broad-line markers in a washable formula that comes out of skin and most washable clothing. A reliable, colorful pick for little artists and the grown-ups who do the laundry.

Crayola Crayons, 64 Count (Pack of 2): The classic 64 box with the built-in sharpener, times two. Sometimes the best gift is the familiar one, and having a second box means a set for home and a set for travel.

Sakura Gelly Roll Moonlight Gel Pens (10 Pack): Bright, opaque gel pens that show up on both dark and light paper. Kids and teens love them for doodling, journaling and adding details on top of black paper drawings.

Painting

Prang Oval Pan Watercolor Set, 16 Colors: A classroom-favorite watercolor set with bright pigments, mixing areas in the lid and a brush included. It’s an affordable way for a child to paint with colors that actually look vivid on the page.

Sakura Koi Pocket Field Sketch Kit, 12 Colors: A tiny watercolor set with 12 half pans and a water brush, all in a pocket-sized case. Ideal for a teen or adult who wants to paint outside, on vacation or in a sketchbook at the kitchen table.

Kwik Stix Solid Tempera Paint Sticks, 24 Colors: Tempera paint in a twist-up stick that dries quickly and washes up easily. Brilliant for young kids, busy homeschool days and anyone who loves painting but not cleanup.

Royal & Langnickel Zip N’ Close 12-Piece Brush Set: Twelve gold taklon brushes in a range of flats, rounds and brights, stored in a zip pouch. A nice upgrade from the brushes that come in kids’ paint sets, and it works with watercolor and acrylic.

Clay and Sculpture

Sculpey III Polymer Clay, 10 Colors: Soft, easy-to-condition oven-bake clay in ten colors. It stays soft until baked in a home oven, so kids and teens can take their time on tiny sculptures, charms and beads.

Crayola Air Dry Clay, 5 lbs: Five pounds of white air-dry clay in a resealable bucket. No kiln, no oven, just shape it, let it dry, then paint it. A great starter clay for a family or homeschool art shelf.

Printmaking and Mixed Media

Speedball Linoleum Cutter Set (5 Cutters with Handle): Five lino cutter blades with a storage handle for carving soft blocks and linoleum. A good first printmaking tool for teens and adults (with supervision for younger artists).

Presto Foam Printing Plates, 6″ x 9″ (30 Sheets): Soft foam plates you can draw into with a pencil to make a printing plate. It’s one of the easiest ways to introduce printmaking to kids: no carving tools needed, and the results feel magical.

Mod Podge Matte Sealer, Glue and Finish: The all-in-one glue, sealer and finish for collage and decoupage. A staple for mixed-media projects, from collage portraits to decorated boxes.

Polar bear under a watercolor northern lights sky art project with paints and oil pastels