Toddlers love creative activities but coming up with ideas on what to make isn’t always easy for parents. It can also be a challenge to find safe and suitable art supplies for younger children. That’s why we love craft kits for toddlers – they contain everything needed to make the project on the box, and also include easy to follow step-by-step instructions. Toddlers will love working on a kit like this and can learn and practice many key skills as they do so.
So, we have picked out 15 of the best options and reviewed them here – there is sure to be something to suit your toddler, no matter what type of crafting they best enjoy. We also have some tips on how to pick the best art set, so you can be sure your toddler will be delighted with the one they receive.
Considerations When Choosing Toddler Craft Kits
As mentioned above, there are a few things to keep in mind when picking out craft activity kits for a toddler. First, their age and ability. If you are buying for an older toddler, their needs will be different than those of younger kids. Crafts for preschoolers are different from crafts for 1 year olds, and you should choose accordingly. We have given advice on the age range each project below is suitable for.
Safety is also important when working on arts and crafts. Make sure the materials in the kit are non-toxic and be prepared to help out with certain aspects of the craft if things like cutting are involved. Finally, think about the type of craft activity in the kit. Your toddler might already have a preference as to what they enjoy working on – perhaps they like painting, or maybe they prefer using glue or stickers. Think about their interests and choose a craft accordingly. You could also look out for their favorite things in the craft, like unicorns or favorite animated characters perhaps.
15 Best Toddler Craft Kit
We will now take a look at our picks of 15 of the best of these art kits for young children. There is sure to be something here to appeal to your little one.
1. Alex Button Art
Our first pick comes from top brand ALEX toys and can be used to make fun, colorful pictures using buttons. It is one of the best craft kits for toddlers age 2, but it can also be enjoyed by those as young as 18 months old. There are 10 designs included with almost 50 buttons to make them with and a tray to store the buttons in. The pictures show which colors of buttons should be used to complete the image, so it’s ideal for helping toddlers learn to match and can also be used to tell them the names of the various colors.
2. Portable Drawing Pad
Drawing is a fun pastime for many toddlers, but if you are looking for an alternative to having hundreds of sheets of paper lying around, this drawing book is ideal. It has 12 waterproof, reusable pages and has a Velcro seal to keep it closed. The book comes with 12 colorful pens that can be used on the pages as well as a pouch to keep the pens together when not in use. The book is 9″ x 9″, so it’s a good size for toddlers to draw on. This is a great toy to use when traveling – it will keep toddlers entertained for hours and doesn’t take up much space.
3. Drawing Stencil Set
Our next pick is a craft kit toddler will love if they are fans of drawing. The stencils come in 300 different shapes so toddlers will never get bored of using them. The set also comes with a dry erase board to draw on, markers to use on the board, colored pencils, a sketch pad, stickers, a pencil sharpener, and a handy, reusable carrying case to keep everything in. There are 15 stencil sheets, each with a different theme. Some of the themes include pirates, dinosaurs, space, ballerinas, circus, and letters and numbers. So, there are designs to appeal to both boys and girls alike.
4. Melissa & Doug Loop It
Our next pick is a fantastic Melissa & Doug craft kit for toddler. It can be used to make a lovely owl tote bag that toddlers will love to use to carry their favorite things around in. The kit comes with both sides of the bag, stretchy loops, and flower decorations to customize the bag with. The bag is simple to make, just thread the loops through the holes in the bag pieces and tuck them into themselves. Making this tote is a great way for toddlers to work on their fine motor skills, and is also loads of fun!
5. Alex Picture Mosaic
This mosaic-making craft is sure to keep toddlers busy for hours, and is excellent for developing hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. It comes with everything needed to make five mosaics – the five picture templates and almost 1000 stickers to finish them with. The pictures are made simply by peeling and sticking the stickers – no mess involved! The designs are fun and sure to appeal to boys and girls – a house, a cake, flowers, a lion, and a bowl of cereal.
6. Thanksgiving Craft Set
If you are looking for Thanksgiving or Halloween craft kits for toddlers, a kit is a great choice as it makes things easier at what are typically busy times of the year for parents. To celebrate Thanksgiving, toddlers will love making these simple crafts to decorate the house with or to give as gifts to special family members. The set has four different crafts to work on – a magnetic frame, a tree of thanks, a turkey and a cornucopia. The crafts are easy to make with the pieces being pre-cut and simply requiring assembled together. Many of the pieces are made from foam with self-adhesive backings, so this really couldn’t be simpler!
7. Tape All Day by Alex Toys
If you are looking for craft supplies to be used in an open-ended way, this set of fun, patterned tapes is ideal. There are eight different tapes included with a total length of 128 feet across all the tapes. So, they are sure to last throughout many projects. The tapes are ideal for decorating things like photo frames or cups for holding art supplies simply by wrapping them around. Toddlers will have hours of fun coming up with fun ways to use these tapes and they will adore all the colors and patterns they have available to choose from.
8. Paint Your Own Frozen 2 Figure
When it comes to DIY craft kits for toddlers and preschoolers, something featuring their favorite character is sure to go down a treat. This set allows your little artist to customize their own Elsa figurine using the included markers and stickers. There are four markers in colors just like Elsa has in the movie Frozen II, and the stickers are sparkly. Toddlers will love to have their finished figurine on display in their bedroom!
9. Kid Made Modern Crafts Library
If you’re looking for a craft starter kit for toddler, this set from Kid Made Modern is an excellent pick. It is filled with everything needed to get started with working on some craft projects. There are more than 200 pieces in the set with items such as wooden beads, googly eyes, glittery shapes, colorful yarn, and more. The pieces are bright and colorful and are sized just right for small hands to manage. This is the perfect set to let toddlers unleash their creativity – it can be used to make anything they can dream up!
10. Rock Painting Kit
Painting is a fun activity for toddlers and this set is ideal for giving them a change from painting on paper. The set comes with ten rocks, 12 paints, brushes, sticker sheets, and googly eyes. There is also a color mixing guide that will show toddlers how to create new shades with their existing paints. The included transfers and stickers make it easy for toddlers to have excellent results. The finished rocks will look great displayed either inside or outside, and the paint will stand up well even if the rocks are left outside.
11. Melissa & Doug Snap It
Next up we have an excellent pick from Melissa & Doug. The kit comes with the pieces to make four cute farmyard animals. They are simply assembled using the included cardstock pieces which can be snapped together easily. To make this kit even more fun, toddlers can mix and match the pieces to make their own crazy combinations! There are also stickers included to decorate the finished animal models.
12. Kid Made Modern Art Library
If you are thinking to get your toddler a craft kit for Christmas, this set is excellent. It has more than 1000 pieces and can be used to create just about anything your toddler can imagine. Even better, everything can be stored in the carry case in neatly organized compartments to make it easy to find what they are looking for every time. Some of the pieces you can find in this box include pom poms, pipe cleaners, scissors, beads, sequins, and more.
13. Kiddy Color Rock Painting Activity
Here we have another fun painting kit, again it’s about painting rocks. The set has more than 30 pieces including rocks, paints, glitter glue, eyes, pompoms, and much more. So, it has everything a child needs to customize their rocks in any design they can come up with. Toddlers will have hours of fun decorating their rocks and displaying them around the home or outdoors.
14. Melissa & Doug Shake It
Melissa & Doug is a great brand with some excellent preschool craft kits and this one is very simple but produces excellent results. The set comes with two farm animals, a horse and a cow, as well as confetti to decorate them with. The animals have self-adhesive surfaces, so the coating should be peeled off then the animal is placed into a bag of confetti, shaken, and removed before being decorated with the included stickers. There are also pieces to make a 3D farm scene from cardstock so the animals can be displayed in here.
15. Make Your Own Trinket Box
Our final pick is another excellent offering from Melissa & Doug. This toddler girl glitter craft kit allows them to decorate their own little box to keep their jewelry, hair slides, or other little trinkets in. The flower-shaped box is wooden and it comes with gems, paints, a paintbrush, glue, and glitter glue to decorate it with. Toddlers will love decorating the box and it makes an excellent keepsake to be used for many years to come, or even given to someone special with a gift inside.
Best Buy Overall
After looking at 15 of the top craft kits for preschoolers, we have picked out the one which stands out as the best of all. The Kid Made Modern Art Library is the one we love most of all. It has a huge number of pieces to keep toddlers entertained for hours on end, and it is great for them to develop their imagination and problem-solving skills as they work out which pieces to use to make their crafts. This is the best solution to solving rainy-day boredom!
Best Budget Pick
If you are looking for a cheaper option, we have another excellent pick lined up. The ALEX Toys mosaic kit is our choice here. It can be used to make five awesome crafts and has almost 1000 stickers to keep little hands busy for hours. The craft is quite simple to do but is excellent for developing fine motor skills – it is educational as well as loads of fun. Toddlers love peeling and sticking so this set is sure to go down a treat.
What to Put in a Craft Kit for a Toddler?
If you want to make up your own craft kit, you might be wondering which supplies your toddler will need. Possible items to include are:
- Safety scissors
- Glue sticks
- Glitter
- Paints & brushes
- Pipe cleaners
- Paper plates
- Wooden sticks
- Feathers
- Googly eyes
- Colored markers
- Stickers
