Top Picks: Colored Pencils and Drawing Paper

My kids can often be found at the breakfast table designing elaborate maps, making diagrams of their inventions, doodling, drawing fairies + mandalas, and illustrating stories in stapled books. Once your child can grasp a pencil and make marks without breaking the tip, they are ready for colored pencils. That's younger than you may think!

Drawing with colored pencils develops fine motor skills, creativity, color selection, patterning and color combination. Quality colored pencils and a few wirebound pads of paper and detailed coloring books make great holiday or birthday presents. For detailed coloring in coloring books, as well as free hand drawing, you will need a decent number of colored pencils. To allow your child to really explore this medium, get a good set with at least 36 colors. Try watercolor pencils as well ~ Donna Downey posted a fabulous time lapse video of a watercolor pencil project.

TOP PICKS: COLORED PENCILS + PAPER PADS

Prismacolor Verithin Pencils. Our favorite - great quality, vivid color, reasonably priced. A set of 36-48 colors is a great starting point. Sharpen with an electric pencil sharpener (which will eat up more of your pencils, but works better for kids with LOTS of pencils) or an inexpensive hand held colored pencil sharpener (to get a super sharp tip) and expect to buy a new box at least twice each year... depending on usage. These are PERFECT for plane trips (with the little sharpener). Just put the pencils in a plastic food box (i.e. Glad disposables) to keep the tips nice en route.

Strathmore 300 Series Drawing Pads Tape Bound or Wire Bound, 11in x 14in or 8in x 10in, your preference. For freehand drawing with colored pencils, you and your kids can use multi-purpose printer paper, sketch paper or drawing paper. Be sure to get paper which is smooth rather than watercolor paper which is rough and would result in less precision.