Watercolors are one of the most used art supplies for kids. They seem easy to use, they’re inexpensive, they allow painting without a lot of mess. But if you’ve ever walked into Michaels or looked on Amazon or Blick, chances are that your eyes glazed over. With so many kinds to choose from, what are the best watercolors for kids?
We’ve got your back.
Presenting – The Pan Watercolor Olympics!
We put 10 brands to the test – which will come out on top? Spoiler alert – it may not be who you think.
Also, it depends on what you are using them for, and what’s the most important to you.
In the art room, Prang Semi-Moist and Crayola Educational have often been the two best options. If you’re a homeschooler, Ooly and Arteza, as well as sets you can find at Michaels that come in 36 varieties have been huge hits.
But how do they stack against each other? Ready to find out?
Amazon links are afflinks which means that you pay nothing additional, and I receive a small amount to buy myself more espresso and continue testing art products!
The 10 Contestants
There are a lot of watercolors on the market. I chose 10 types, all $15 or less, all ones that would be perfect for students (or looked like it). Most are less than $10. I purchased on Amazon and Blick, with no bulk discounts.
When I purchased, I bought the set that provided the best value – so sometimes I opted for the 16 set for Prang and Crayola.
I also chose ones that had regular colors – red, yellow, blue. If it had neon – great! But if was only a neon set (I’m looking at you Ooly Chromablends who I adore) then I left it out. I’ll come back with another post down the road with more sparkly and neon sets to up your watercolor game.
Prices below are of posting date and on Amazon. Prices and availability can change rapidly, so shop around!
- Prang Semi-Moist (16 count, $15.36)
- Crayola Educational (16 count, $8.00)
- Crayola Artista II (16 count, $17.30)
- TBC Semi-Moist (36 count, $6.99)
- Faber Castell Watercolors (12)
- Faber Castell Connector Paint Watercolors (12)
- Niji (36)
- Jack Richeson (12 count) (Link is to 24 count, $10.00)
- Three Little Twigs (16) (Link is to Dick Blick, $2.99)
- Yarka (12)
The Competition Categories
I wanted to remain consistent, so if the watercolor set came with a paintbrush, then I used their paintbrush. If it didn’t, I used my own. I looked at the following.
- Reds. I tested any colors that looked like they might be red, without testing them first. This means that sometimes I got magenta or orange. But I wanted the experience that a child would have.
- Blues. Again, I tested what looked like it might be a blue, regardless of checking if it was blue first. Sometimes this resulted in a blue-violet.
- Paintbrush Quality. Did it come with a paintbrush? If so, how was it?
- Ease of Getting Color Onto the Paper. We’ve all had the misfortune of trying to add a gallon of water to a pan set and it’s still not giving us a color that it promises.
- Mixing. Is there a mixing area? Do the colors mix easily? Would kids have an easy time?
- Value. When I run out of a color, can I replace it? Do I have all the colors I would like? Are any missing? How fast would I use this paint?
Prang Semi-Moist (16)
- Pods are replaceable
- Classroom packs are available to purchase
- Colors are smooth
- Colors are easy to mix
- Mixing tray is sturdy and helpful
- Super vibrant with little effort
- Easy to find in stores
- Not the best red – the reds are either a maroon look or a red-orange
- Paintbrush is decent, but not the best
Crayola Educational & Artista II (16)
- Pods are replaceable
- Classroom packs are available to purchase
- Colors are smooth
- Colors are easy to mix
- Mixing tray is sturdy and helpful
- Clearest red and blue out of any of the brands tested
- Super vibrant with little effort
- Paintbrush is excellent
- Must order online
- Pods are replaceable
- Colors are smooth
- Colors are easy to mix
- Tray is flimsy
- Colors are not vibrant
- Paintbrush sheds and is flimsy – you would need to purchase another one
- Must order online
- Twice as expensive as educational, but worse quality
TBC (36)
- Colors look beautiful in the tray and it comes with neons
- Colors have a weird foam when adding water
- Some colors are vibrant, and others seem to have no pigment at all
- Brush is okay, but small
- No mixing tray
- Not replaceable
- Not available in classroom packs
- Not available in stores
Faber Castell (12)
- Pods are not replaceable
- Decent brush
- Colors are more opaque
- Useful mixing tray
- Chalky feeling when painting
- Comes with white watercolor pod
- No purple/violet
- Not in classroom packs and harder to find in stores
- Less expensive than connector paints by about $5
- Pods are replaceable
- Decent brush
- Colors are more opaque
- Mixing tray with a few wells
- Chalky feeling when painting
- Comes with white gouache tube for creating tints
- Fun novelty aspect for kids
- Not in classroom packs and harder to find in stores
Niji (36)
- No paintbrush
- Not replaceable
- A bit chalky and opaque
- Lots of mixing wells
- Super vibrant with little water
- Reds are more maroon/magenta
- Lots of beautiful blues
- Available easily online and in stores
- Not available in classroom packs
Jack Richeson (12)
- Paintbrush is barely usable and sheds
- Not replaceable
- Not very vibrant on paper
- Mixing wells with sturdy tray
- Smooth colors
- Easy to mix
- Not easy to find in a brick and mortar store
- Link is to 24 count
Three Little Twigs (16)
- Brush works okay, but is small and better for details
- Not replaceable
- Extra small and shallow pods
- Smooth colors
- Easy to mix
- Decent vibrancy
- Pods fall out of tray easily and tray is flimsy inside case
- Not available in classroom packs
- Not seen in regular stores and not available on Amazon
Yarka (12)
- Brush is okay but super short handle
- Not replaceable
- One of the best “reds” out of all brands tested
- One blue, one purplish-blue
- Sturdy tray with two mixing wells, one on each end
- Decent vibrancy
- Smooth painting experience
- Not available in classroom packs
- Not seen in regular stores (link is to 8-pack on Amazon)
The Results!
All opinions are my own, and I did not receive any commissions or products from any of these companies/suppliers.
Best Red
Crayola Educational took 1st place here, followed by Yarka in 2nd place, and Prang in 3rd. Crayola’s red is RED, Yarka’s red is also beautifully red but it takes a little more effort, where Prang has one that is more maroon and another that is red-orange, but both can be used.
Best Blue
Crayola Educational took 1st place here. The blues are beautiful and vibrant. Niji’s wide range of blues made it take 2nd place. Faber Castell’s Connector Paints were easy to use and delivered a brilliant blue as well – and easily.
Best Paintbrush
Faber Castell’s brush is top notch and both the watercolors and connector paints tied for 1st. Crayola Educational came in 2nd with a decent enough brush that you wouldn’t have to purchase another one. Prang came in 3rd – the brush is decent, but Crayola’s is a little bit better.
Easiest to Use
Prang and Crayola Educational tie for 1st place here. They’re both easy to use for kids, and easy to get color. Niji comes in 2nd as it takes very little water to activate the colors and the colors are vibrant with little help. Yarks came in 3rd with easy to activate and smooth colors.
Best Mixing
Prang and Crayola Educational tie for 1st place. These sets are designed for students and it’s easy to get new colors and to teach color mixing. Faber Castell’s Connector paints come in 2nd – but they involve using a tube of gouache which is hard for younger kids and a more advanced way to make tints. Yarka comes in 3rd with smooth colors.
Best Value
Crayola Educational wins out here. The colors are vibrant, you can purchase them in class packs and individually, the pods are replaceable if kids use up all the blue, and they’re almost half the cost of Prang’s Semi-Moist. Niji takes second because the variety of colors makes up for the lack of replaceability. In 3rd place, is Prang.
And the winner of the Best Watercolors for Kids is…
Coming in 1st place is Crayola Educational! In 2nd place, we see Prang. In 3rd, we have Niji – winning out over the others because it’s easy to purchase, in expensive, and easy to find.
Do you have an art supply you’d like to see a test for? Drop it in the comments below and share this post with others!
Test your Own!
If you’re looking for a place to test your watercolors out, click the banner below to try our Honey Bee Life Art Project. This free project can be done with ANY art supply and looks beautiful with watercolors!
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Thank you! Watercolors are just not the same anymore for pan colors for littles- and they melt so fast and do not last long- I agree with your findings- I am currently on my 33 rd year teaching art to elementary kids- but also middle school for 28 of those 33 years!
You’re absolutely right – I’ve found that kids really can dig into those wells especially with some of these types that don’t give any color! And that is a long, long time! Thank you SO much for your service, dedication, and work in bringing art to kids! <3
I would love a review of chalk pastels for Elementary! I am looking for vibrancy, variety of colors, and low dust if that is possible.
Absolutely! I did one a few years ago but things have definitely changed and we are overdue! I do know that one way to minimize the dust is to dip the chalk in water first – it’s a different effect but rather fun and kids love it!
Brilliant article very helpful. Wondering if you could compare paintbrushes for elementary.I get overwhelmed with choices. I want a sturdy long-lasting brush that maintains shape.
Absolutely! I think this is on the top of my list too. I have one type that I love, but I’ve never tested the others to see if there’s something better. Writing it down and I’ll be hitting that one up soon!
Thank you for testing all of these! It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by choices. I would love to see oil pastel Olympics.
Absolutely! We asked our members this morning and oil pastels were top of the list for them too so that is definitely next on the list! Stay tuned!
Hi Julie,
Thanks for doing this research. It’s very helpful and it’s nice to have my own experiences confirmed. I just want to mention that if you have Prang semi -moist replaceable trays you can also refill with the Crayola educational. I actually found a classroom supply of old Prang boxes at the local reuse store and purchased for a song, then just ordered the refills to fill. Of course I had to clean them up a bit, but much cheaper than buying new!
Oh that is good to know!! I love that you can mix and match – ultimately I prefer the Crayola Educational but now I’m wondering if I can mix and match to get my faves of both sets! :D
I didn’t know that the replacements were interchangeable? So Crayola Educational and Prang oval refill colors can be mixed in their trays? Just confirming before I make purchases. Having a hard time refilling Crayola this school year. Most stores are “out of stock” or only carry a few colors. Dick Blick doesn’t carry any refills this year.
They used to be! I’ve heard some sad news that Crayola isn’t offering as many of the replacements and might be phasing them out all together :/ However, we’ve had a few members who have gotten tube watercolors and used those to refill the missing colors to “close enough” and it’s worked great! The paints are slightly different in transparency, but typically kids (especially younger ones) won’t notice too much :)
Our favorite set is the watercolor sets from Ikea! They have a great storage box, come with cups for water. People always ask how our watercolor art is so vibrant! They now also have a replacement palette of neons. If you have an Ikea nearby, check them out!
I don’t have one nearby, but this is such good feedback since so many have an IKEA nearby and I’ve never tested their watercolors. And neon too?! Win-win! Thank you!