Help me stock a cart with drawing/painting supplies for a 7-year old
April 23, 2023 6:12 AM Subscribe
My daughter will be 7 soon. She loves to draw and paint. For her birthday, we're thinking of gifting her one of those Ikea Raskog carts stocked with nice drawing/painting supplies. What should a 7-year old who is serious about drawing and painting have?
My daughter will be 7 soon. She loves to draw and paint and has always used whatever cheap supplies we have lying around, but it's time for an upgrade. For her birthday, we're thinking of gifting her one of those Ikea Raskog carts stocked with nice drawing/painting supplies. What should a 7-year old who is serious about drawing and painting have? I am not an artist at all, so I'm not sure how to stock her cart with the right products so that she is able to try out a wide range of styles and techniques. I need your help making this into an absolute dream gift for my artsy girl! My list so far (feel free to add or point out redundancies): - coloring pencils - drawing pencils in various degrees of hardness - erasers, sharpeners - coloring markers - gel crayons - black fine-tip Sharpies - Sharpies in gold, silver, bronze - acrylic paint pens - tubes of acrylic paint - paint brushes - watercolor paint - different types of paper, like for watercolor I'm looking for advice on the types of supplies that I should include and also for specific product recommendations. My budget is about €200 total for the supplies. I'm aiming for stuff that is good quality but also she's a young kid still, and I don't want to die a little every time she leaves a cap off or accidentally squirts an entire tube of paint onto the paper. Also bonus points if I can buy individual products to complete a set of (markers/paints/whatever) if one goes missing or dries out. We're in the Netherlands and I have family in the UK who could bring something over from there when they visit for her birthday.
My daughter will be 7 soon. She loves to draw and paint and has always used whatever cheap supplies we have lying around, but it's time for an upgrade. For her birthday, we're thinking of gifting her one of those Ikea Raskog carts stocked with nice drawing/painting supplies. What should a 7-year old who is serious about drawing and painting have? I am not an artist at all, so I'm not sure how to stock her cart with the right products so that she is able to try out a wide range of styles and techniques. I need your help making this into an absolute dream gift for my artsy girl! My list so far (feel free to add or point out redundancies): - coloring pencils - drawing pencils in various degrees of hardness - erasers, sharpeners - coloring markers - gel crayons - black fine-tip Sharpies - Sharpies in gold, silver, bronze - acrylic paint pens - tubes of acrylic paint - paint brushes - watercolor paint - different types of paper, like for watercolor I'm looking for advice on the types of supplies that I should include and also for specific product recommendations. My budget is about €200 total for the supplies. I'm aiming for stuff that is good quality but also she's a young kid still, and I don't want to die a little every time she leaves a cap off or accidentally squirts an entire tube of paint onto the paper. Also bonus points if I can buy individual products to complete a set of (markers/paints/whatever) if one goes missing or dries out. We're in the Netherlands and I have family in the UK who could bring something over from there when they visit for her birthday.
I'd suggest a variety of types of adhesive:
-- glue sticks (permanent and repositionable
-- double-sided tape
-- colored tape
-- glue dots
-- glue pen
And a variety of paper in different colors, patterns, textures and weight.
She might really love experimenting with combining colors, pattern, and shape.
posted by mcduff at 6:36 AM on April 23, 2023 [5 favorites]
-- glue sticks (permanent and repositionable
-- double-sided tape
-- colored tape
-- glue dots
-- glue pen
And a variety of paper in different colors, patterns, textures and weight.
She might really love experimenting with combining colors, pattern, and shape.
posted by mcduff at 6:36 AM on April 23, 2023 [5 favorites]
Seconding oil pastels. I had a childhood friend whose parents were professional artists--they gave our preschool oil pastels, and we all fell in love with them and remained devoted to them throughout our childhoods. They are like magical grownup crayons.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:38 AM on April 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 6:38 AM on April 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
In addition to paper, get painting canvases in various sizes. Not only do these make paintings easier to save and display, and are wonderful for when a kid wants to make a serious painting as a permanent artwork to keep, but my artistic kid just really enjoyed painting on canvas. You can find them on amazon easily.
In addition: A folding easel and painter's palette for mixing colors.
posted by Tim Bucktooth at 6:44 AM on April 23, 2023
In addition: A folding easel and painter's palette for mixing colors.
posted by Tim Bucktooth at 6:44 AM on April 23, 2023
Best answer: Yes to oil pastels and also chalk pastels. These are lovely to work with and don't break as easily as some do.
Paint: Get a small set of acrylics and watercolors. You don't need a bunch of colors, let her learn to mix her own custom colors. Also consider getting a few special paints. This gold paint is expensive but a little bit goes a long way. Don't forget to get a set of brushes as well.
Paper: I would get her a roll of drawing paper and a few pads of watercolor paper. I like this stuff. You can also find sketchbooks and paper on sale at art supply stores or hobby shops, they tend to mark down any pads that have bent corners etc.
Other stuff: tape and glue, good scissors, a cute smock to protect her clothes. Encourage her to sign and date her work, and plan for a display area and storage for finished pieces.
When you choose stuff, check the reviews. Working with quality materials when I was a young artist is what made me fall in love with art. Bad pencils and paints are no fun to use.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 6:54 AM on April 23, 2023 [4 favorites]
Paint: Get a small set of acrylics and watercolors. You don't need a bunch of colors, let her learn to mix her own custom colors. Also consider getting a few special paints. This gold paint is expensive but a little bit goes a long way. Don't forget to get a set of brushes as well.
Paper: I would get her a roll of drawing paper and a few pads of watercolor paper. I like this stuff. You can also find sketchbooks and paper on sale at art supply stores or hobby shops, they tend to mark down any pads that have bent corners etc.
Other stuff: tape and glue, good scissors, a cute smock to protect her clothes. Encourage her to sign and date her work, and plan for a display area and storage for finished pieces.
When you choose stuff, check the reviews. Working with quality materials when I was a young artist is what made me fall in love with art. Bad pencils and paints are no fun to use.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 6:54 AM on April 23, 2023 [4 favorites]
I love oil pastels and chalk pastels, and would also consider pastel pencils. It brings that same buttery feeling to pencil drawing.
I’m also a huge fan of prismacolor markers. I prefer the chisel tip/fine tip double ended ones. They don’t smell terrible and draw so much nicer than typical kids markers.
posted by advicepig at 7:02 AM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
I’m also a huge fan of prismacolor markers. I prefer the chisel tip/fine tip double ended ones. They don’t smell terrible and draw so much nicer than typical kids markers.
posted by advicepig at 7:02 AM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm not sure higher end supplies matter a lot for a 7 year old. A massive selection of types of supplies can be overwhelming, so a gift certificate to an art supply store might be nice so she can choose. I'd get her a giant roll of paper - not newsprint, but butcher paper or copier paper, and some nicer copy paper from the office supply store. An easel. A dropcloth for the floor, and some deck paint to paint it with.
posted by theora55 at 8:31 AM on April 23, 2023
posted by theora55 at 8:31 AM on April 23, 2023
This sounds like my daughter! Modge Podge glue, Origami paper, water color markers, interesting sticker sheets, washi tape. A wall-of-art to display her work. We've also had a lot of fun with oil markers intended for writing on rocks and other weird surfaces. We collect rocks at the beach, paint them and tuck them around the yard/neighborhood. Modeling clay has also been a hit. I'm excited to see other folk's responses. Happy birthday to your kiddo!
posted by jeszac at 8:39 AM on April 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by jeszac at 8:39 AM on April 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
A BIG drawing pad - A3 or (if available) even bigger. She can then make her pictures as widescreen as she likes.
posted by Paul Slade at 8:40 AM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Paul Slade at 8:40 AM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
Tempra paint sticks are cheap on Amazon and toddlers and pro artists each love them. Super satisfying to use, like lipstick on paper. Dry fast, super color payoff.
posted by atomicstone at 8:41 AM on April 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by atomicstone at 8:41 AM on April 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
Make some of your markers brush markers. They are divine to use, like a cross between drawing and painting. I don't know what brands are available where you are but I would usually go for a Japanese brand of marker unless it is super expensive.
posted by BibiRose at 8:42 AM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by BibiRose at 8:42 AM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
Regarding the quality of the supplies: I remember at her age being very frustrated by low quality art supplies. I didn't need professional artist quality but I noticed the difference between crayons that had rich, deep colors and felt nice to use versus waxy crayons that had weak color and broke easily. Same for markers, oil pastels and paper. So I think you are on the right track for not going for the cheapest "kid" art supplies.
posted by mcduff at 8:46 AM on April 23, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by mcduff at 8:46 AM on April 23, 2023 [9 favorites]
Best answer: Most art materials brands have two ranges of media, "student" and "artist". The student ranges are a great choice at her stage, because they are affordable and non-toxic pigments designed for beginners. You can buy more colors for her and know that she's not working with some pigment that requires special handling. Some brands offer color mixing sets for learning how to mix color; these sets will have two reds, two yellow, and two blues for subtle color mixing for painters.
Kid's ranges are packed with titanium white filler to make the colors go farther and have a very minimal pigment load, and many are made with cheap pigments, so don't retain their intensity over time. The light pigment load also makes the colors look greyed down and it's not really possible to get intense, saturated colors with cheap pigment loads.
I personally love the book "The Artist's Manual" by Angela Gair, Chronicle Books, about twenty-five dollars. It's got lots of information about art materials with examples of how to achieve certain effects. It's very picture/demonstration helpful with a range of styles, so she can see how to get a kind of effect she wants; I don't think it's too difficult for your young artist to enjoy. It's a common book, and you can scope it out on Amazon. I wish I had it when I was learning; it would have saved me a lot of frustration. The book may be a nice guide for you to pick the media according to what type of works she makes now.
I would recommend some artist mediums, like glazing medium for acrylic glazes and modeling paste for impasto. I wouldn't buy her any natural hair brushes; there are plenty of great synthetic brushes of all media these days. They hold up better to wear, are more affordable and easier to clean. I would have also loved to have had a really nice sketch journal for writing my creative thoughts and making sketches and collages, so I would include that. Kudos to you for being such a supportive and loving parent.
posted by effluvia at 8:47 AM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
Kid's ranges are packed with titanium white filler to make the colors go farther and have a very minimal pigment load, and many are made with cheap pigments, so don't retain their intensity over time. The light pigment load also makes the colors look greyed down and it's not really possible to get intense, saturated colors with cheap pigment loads.
I personally love the book "The Artist's Manual" by Angela Gair, Chronicle Books, about twenty-five dollars. It's got lots of information about art materials with examples of how to achieve certain effects. It's very picture/demonstration helpful with a range of styles, so she can see how to get a kind of effect she wants; I don't think it's too difficult for your young artist to enjoy. It's a common book, and you can scope it out on Amazon. I wish I had it when I was learning; it would have saved me a lot of frustration. The book may be a nice guide for you to pick the media according to what type of works she makes now.
I would recommend some artist mediums, like glazing medium for acrylic glazes and modeling paste for impasto. I wouldn't buy her any natural hair brushes; there are plenty of great synthetic brushes of all media these days. They hold up better to wear, are more affordable and easier to clean. I would have also loved to have had a really nice sketch journal for writing my creative thoughts and making sketches and collages, so I would include that. Kudos to you for being such a supportive and loving parent.
posted by effluvia at 8:47 AM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I still have parts of my Caran d'Ache art set that I got for my 7th birthday, not because it is that durable, but because I loved it so much, I really treasured it and used it sparingly. Just to say, for some children, this will be the best gift ever.
I looked, and they don't seem to have gift sets with many different types of media anymore, at least here in Europe, but that was what was great about my box: there were watercolors, two types of crayons (wax and pastel), colored pencils, acrylics and gouache, so I could learn what the different tools could do for me. Obviously, it was also important that they were professional tools, rather than kids's stuff. The colors were bright and durable.
For paper, good sketch paper is good enough, expensive cloth paper is confusing for children and they need to make a lot of art rather than one or two careful pieces a day.
For markers, I'd go with the cheap supermarket types that you can replace every month. Using markers properly is an art form, and I remember being very frustrated with my results as a kid (even though I loved markers, like all kids do). It's much easier to achieve good results with the more classical media.
posted by mumimor at 8:57 AM on April 23, 2023
I looked, and they don't seem to have gift sets with many different types of media anymore, at least here in Europe, but that was what was great about my box: there were watercolors, two types of crayons (wax and pastel), colored pencils, acrylics and gouache, so I could learn what the different tools could do for me. Obviously, it was also important that they were professional tools, rather than kids's stuff. The colors were bright and durable.
For paper, good sketch paper is good enough, expensive cloth paper is confusing for children and they need to make a lot of art rather than one or two careful pieces a day.
For markers, I'd go with the cheap supermarket types that you can replace every month. Using markers properly is an art form, and I remember being very frustrated with my results as a kid (even though I loved markers, like all kids do). It's much easier to achieve good results with the more classical media.
posted by mumimor at 8:57 AM on April 23, 2023
Seconding Caran d'Ache. When I was about your daughter's age I got a tin of their coloured pencils like these which can also be brushed with water for a watercolour effect. I thought I was the fanciest ever. Really nice to use, feels grown up but lovely bright colours, smart presentation. Also like the suggestion of pastels, and if you think she'd be up for it and you don't have too many pale surfaces at home to worry about, how about some charcoal? Works a treat with a supply of sugar paper in different colours. I haven't done anything artsy for years but this is bringing back lots of great memories of being a kid who liked messing about with this stuff!
posted by FavourableChicken at 9:33 AM on April 23, 2023
posted by FavourableChicken at 9:33 AM on April 23, 2023
For water color and acrylic paints she’ll need a jar or similar container for water to clean the brush and dilute the paint. She’ll also need a surface to mix the paints on. For watercolor this will be a plastic or ceramic dish with wells for the liquid paint. A watercolor travel box will include this inside the lid, but with tube watercolors you’ll probably buy it separately. An acrylic paint palette can be a purchased dish, wood palette or pad of paper or a reused or thrifted plate or tray. What a thoughtful and wonderful gift!
posted by veneer at 9:40 AM on April 23, 2023
posted by veneer at 9:40 AM on April 23, 2023
I'd say no sharpies because of noxious off gassing. There are water color pastels, you can make the drawing, then brush with water to soften edges. There are water color pencils too. Femo clay, which is colorful and bakes hard, in the oven, to make little animals or beads.
posted by Oyéah at 11:33 AM on April 23, 2023
posted by Oyéah at 11:33 AM on April 23, 2023
I got a big set of Prismacolor colored pencils when I turned 10. They were nicer than I needed probably but I was still using them in college.
And I've had one of these Windsor & newton watercolor travel kits for about ten years, they are great and you can refill the pans when they run out /watercolors
posted by velebita at 11:41 AM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
And I've had one of these Windsor & newton watercolor travel kits for about ten years, they are great and you can refill the pans when they run out /watercolors
posted by velebita at 11:41 AM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
Can you take her to an art store and let her choose, maybe with you steering? She might take a shine to one particular luxury and you might be surprised what she is drawn to. If the store have good staff and you explain to them what you are trying to do and your budget they might have suggestions too.
Art materials are personal. If you’re making an investment on her behalf, some art stores will let you test out the markers and crayons before you choose. It would also be a fun day out and a treat for your daughter!
Definitely think of glue, scissors, sellotape, masking tape, spare (news)paper to put down, rags for wiping hands or brushes, containers for water or other liquids. Maybe set aside time for her to make art with you or with friends as part of the gift package.
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 12:31 PM on April 23, 2023
Art materials are personal. If you’re making an investment on her behalf, some art stores will let you test out the markers and crayons before you choose. It would also be a fun day out and a treat for your daughter!
Definitely think of glue, scissors, sellotape, masking tape, spare (news)paper to put down, rags for wiping hands or brushes, containers for water or other liquids. Maybe set aside time for her to make art with you or with friends as part of the gift package.
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 12:31 PM on April 23, 2023
Air drying clay is pretty great - it works very similarly to regular clay, but doesn't need to be fired or baked. definitely will be good for her to play with and see if she's into sculpture.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:17 PM on April 23, 2023
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:17 PM on April 23, 2023
My go to for kid's art supplies is The Eric Carle Museum because they have an amazing art studio where they make available supplies for wonderful all age art projects. I have taken a lot of educational professional development there, and I think they are the experts on this.
My favorite spendy product from there are the Stabilo Woody 3-in-1: "Multi-talented doesn’t even scratch the surface of what these pencils can do. A Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 pencil is a color pencil, watercolor pencil and wax crayon rolled into one. Throw in the fact that the Stabilo Woody’s unique XXL 10 millimeter diameter core can write on paper, glass, metal and leather, and you have one diverse creative tool. Stabilo Woody pencils are also available in 6, 10 and 18 count packs of assorted colors with a Stabilo Woody sharpener." I use mine all the time.
Here are links to two posts about materials they use- one with an accessibility focus and the other a list of their favorite materials (though almost 10 years old.)
posted by momochan at 3:13 PM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
My favorite spendy product from there are the Stabilo Woody 3-in-1: "Multi-talented doesn’t even scratch the surface of what these pencils can do. A Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 pencil is a color pencil, watercolor pencil and wax crayon rolled into one. Throw in the fact that the Stabilo Woody’s unique XXL 10 millimeter diameter core can write on paper, glass, metal and leather, and you have one diverse creative tool. Stabilo Woody pencils are also available in 6, 10 and 18 count packs of assorted colors with a Stabilo Woody sharpener." I use mine all the time.
Here are links to two posts about materials they use- one with an accessibility focus and the other a list of their favorite materials (though almost 10 years old.)
posted by momochan at 3:13 PM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
STABILO woody 3 in 1 pencils are great. Kind of betwen a pastel, pencil and watercolour pencil they have intense colours and the size is great for younger users (as an adult I also love them).
Creativity is messy! Don't forget to include access to a little trash can, paper recycling container, cute brush and dustpan and some washable wiping cloths for spills.
posted by pipstar at 3:40 AM on April 24, 2023
Creativity is messy! Don't forget to include access to a little trash can, paper recycling container, cute brush and dustpan and some washable wiping cloths for spills.
posted by pipstar at 3:40 AM on April 24, 2023
It sounds like you have a good grip on things like pencils/paints etc, but my kids also really enjoyed using things like washi tape, adhesive shiny crystals, shrink plastic (which can come from clear plastic food containers), glitter glue.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 11:52 AM on April 24, 2023
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 11:52 AM on April 24, 2023
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posted by Knicke at 6:15 AM on April 23, 2023 [10 favorites]