To make it easy for you to support your little artist, your art-loving adult friends and family, and even yourself, I present to you 20 fun and artsy stocking stuffers or small gift ideas!
For this list, we’re looking at those smaller items – the ones $20 or less (or close!) and perfect for creative, artsy kids, and adults too. .
Let’s dive in!
(Amazon links are afflinks.)
20 Stocking Stuffers Kids and Adults Will Both Love
Watercolors
Ooly first came out the neons, and now has a pearlescent set and they are both gorgeous. Beautiful on white paper, and on black, these pan watercolor sets offer a different painting experience than the traditional pan sets of basic colors. The neon set even glows under a blacklight!
This little set fits in a pocket and comes with 42 different colors that fan out as well as a watercolor brush. It’s the perfect set to take on the road, use for nature study, or to fit in small areas. Although the pans of color are shallower than many traditional watercolor sets, it still offers the opportunity for an incredible amount of projects for the price.
Colored Pencils
Colored pencils can really vary in quality, and they can be frustrating to kids and adults both when the more inexpensive varieties don’t sharpen well and break often.
Prismacolor Scholar Colored Pencils
The Prismacolor Scholar are perfect for younger artists – they don’t break as easily but still deliver the same quality as Prismacolor is known for, for a much more affordable price.
Faber-Castell Metallic Ecopencils
Faber-Castell is known for their quality, and these ecopencils show up on dark paper, provide a shimmer, and they do what they say – break far less than their competition.
Sargent Art Neon Colored Pencils
Neon colored pencils are a welcome addition to any colored pencil stash. Sargent’s set is inexpensive, offers a beautiful range of colors, and are sturdier than the competition.
Ooly’s Twisty Stix Oil Pastels
Portable, easy clean up, the barrel casings keep hands clean and the twist up action makes it easy to use and store. What more could you ask for with an oil pastel?
Markers
We all love and know Crayola, but what else is out there that won’t break the bank and offers an upgrade? Let’s look at some fun options.
Faber-Castell Black and White Artist Pens
For those who want to try their hand at black and white art on dark or brown paper, these black and white artist pens are the perfect set. These are perfect for older kids and adults, and are also perfect for trying your hand at botanical and other forms of scientific illustration.
Ooly’s The Ink Works provides five different types of black markers, perfect for learning how to make line drawings, experimenting with line and pattern zentangles, and doing fun challenges like Inktober.
With a brush tip on one side and a finer point on the other, these water-based markers are beautiful for coloring, drawing, and learning how to use a brush for more intricate details. They also turn into watercolor paint with a paintbrush or spritz of water, increasing the creativity possibilities. They come in unique sets – rainbow colors, jewel tones, pastels, and more.
Faber-Castell Metallic Highlighters
Have a an artsy writer to shop for? These metallic highlighters offer a sparkly shimmer. They’re perfect for researching, highlighting passages, or even for tracing practice in copywork and handwriting.
Crayola Signature Outline Markers
These are a blast from the past. Metallic markers which write with a beautifully colored solid outline around the edges, they’re a perfect gift for those who are interested in letter art. Best of all, they don’t have the strong odor of the ones from the 80s.
Other Art Supplies
Gel crayons can be used as crayons, smear like oil pastels, and turn into watercolor paint with a paintbrush and water. There are many brands (Ooly has a wonderful set as well), but this set is my favorite because it comes with the basic colors as well as a few neons and a silver.
Modeling clay is perfect for kids who want to create, create, and create again. It’s also a wonderful medium to use for kids who want to experiment with stop motion animation.
A fun way to share art with loved ones, especially when apart, is to mail a piece of art. These postcards are made of watercolor paper, perfect for making something beautiful and sending it on its way.
Pentalic Travel Pocket Journal Sketchbook
A mini-sketchbook with elastic to secure it, this 4×3″ sketchbook is small enough to fit anywhere. It’s perfect for on the go sketching or for using during read alouds, without taking up a lot of space.
Kids love tape, and this washi tape is out of this world fun, featuring the universe, galaxy, constellations, moon and stars.
Make beautiful prints of nature, figurines, or other found objects by leaving this paper out in the sun. Perfect for art and science together.
Other Fun Artsy Gifts
When using neon art supplies, using this flashlight is a fun way to show the neon glow. Kids especially will love shining this on the water after using neon watercolor paint, and using it to reveal secret messages (hello secret writing practice!).
Rainbow Scratch Art Mini Notes
Practice writing and draw at the same time by using this mini pad of scratch art note paper.
This 4-pack of socks featuring famous paintings is fun for you, and they run small so older kids will love them too.
Another thing perfect for your holiday list is a membership to the Glitterbombers. Hundreds of lessons at your fingertips from the get go, live art classes for kids, video training for the kids and for you the teacher or homeschooling parent, and all the resources, handouts, drawing guides you need to be successful. Get ready to start your year off with an explosion of creativity.
Make sure you’re on the waitlist to find out when you can get in, and for all the details!
