10 Reasons to NOT Give an “All-in-One” Art Kit to Your Young Artist for Christmas

During fall, they pop up in stores everywhere, just like mushrooms on your lawn: GIANT collections of art supplies packaged in cute little suitcases, stacking boxes, and other clever containers designed to entice young artists and make you, their parent, want to buy. And why not? What’s not to love about an eclectic collection of 200+ pieces of color, paper, and small canvases?

As it turns out, there’s a LOT to not love about all-in-one art kits. Here are ten reasons why these deceptively attractive sets may do more harm than good to your young artist’s creativity.

1. Low-Quality Materials

The #1 complaint about all-in-one art kits is the poor quality of materials included. This may not sound like a huge problem—especially given the bargain price tag—but it’s actually a terrible problem for the beginner who’s exploring art for the first or second time. Poor quality materials are hard to use. Trying to paint with watercolors, acrylics, or oils with dull pigments and/or not enough pigment is an exercise in futility. It’s simply not possible to mix beautiful colors with them, which can frustrate your child so badly that they just give up.

2. Small Sizes

When you have a low-priced kit containing a massive number of items, there’s no way it can include full-size products of anything other than pencils, charcoal sticks, pastels, and crayons. Other products are basically sample-sized: just enough to provide a brief exposure, but not enough for a full experience. It’s difficult for kids to make completed artworks with the amounts provided in the tiny paint tubes, especially if they enjoy applying thick, expressive layers of paint. That means your child will have to make do with whatever is left over, or you’ll need to find and purchase open stock paint.

3. Limited Selections

If you look closely at the array of colors within any of the “sub-collections” in an art kit (crayons, colored pencils, pastels, paints), you’ll notice a limited or unbalanced number of colors in the arrays. For example, there may be several yellows and browns, but only two blues and greens. Also, kids have their own preferred colors, which they will use more than any of the others. It’s completely natural, and it results in those colors being used up first. So, as with small sizes, your child will have to make do with whatever is left over, or you’ll need to replace those items with open stock.

4. Narrow Age/Skill Range

While most kits are labeled “Ages 5 and Above,” the reality is that about half of the kit will be usable by younger children (5-7 years/grades K-2) and the other half will be appropriate for older kids (8+ years/grade 3 and up). Obviously, older kids can use materials designed for younger ones—and some may even prefer those items—but many will be bored. Younger kids simply can’t use more advanced materials effectively, which I define as being able to physically make the art they imagine in their minds. This is disempowering for little artists who are just getting started.

5. Product Incompatibility

While it would be great if all the products in a kit could be intermixed with each other, usually that’s not the case. If there are tubes of both acrylic and oil paints, most kids don’t realize these two substances cannot be mixed together. So, you’ll have to monitor your child’s use of products and try to remove incompatible items. Charcoal is less of a problem, but kids often try to draw outlines with it, then fill in the spaces with paint, which pulls charcoal into the colors. Kids may not have the dexterity of adults, but they do have surprisingly keen discernment and may be upset with messy results.

6. Odd and/or Minimal Tools

All art kits include tools for the application of products, but some of those tools might be foreign to young artists or are insufficient for your artist to produce a good result. Tortillions/blending stumps are great for blending charcoal, but create a mess if kids try to blend charcoal with oil pastels, or pastels in colors that don’t mix well together. Sometimes, only two paintbrushes are included and their sizes aren’t appropriate for the papers or canvases. This is especially problematic if both oil and acrylic paints are included, as the same brushes shouldn’t be used interchangeably with both products.

7. Emphasis on Results vs. Skill Development

All-in-one kits often include project templates that are designed to be completed in a specific way. This encourages a focus on the finished product which can lead kids to think that art is only about getting things “right” instead of enjoying the creative journey. Emphasizing “product” over “process” discourages improvisation and problem-solving, both of which are important for developing creativity and self-confidence. It may also prevent kids from learning fundamental techniques and mastering skills that can be applied to other types of art projects.

8. Lack of Quality Instructions

The instructions included in art kits typically consist of step-by-step processes for completing pre-designed project templates. While there’s nothing wrong with this per se, it doesn’t stimulate imagination and creativity, which are usually the goals behind providing art supplies for your child in the first place. Also, the step-by-step instructions inside a little booklet don’t provide the explanations children need to develop an understanding of the way art supplies, tools, and techniques work. Worse, they rarely address how to care for brushes, which can bring a swift end to the usability of the kit.

9. Short-Lived Interest

Once a kit is finished, or your child’s favorite colors/products are used up, there’s little incentive for them to continue exploring art. Since the supplies are pre-packaged with mostly tiny items, there’s little opportunity for experience beyond the specific projects included, if those can even be completed with the supplies. So, if your child is going to continue with art beyond the kit, you’ll need to buy additional art supplies and tools, as well as research sources of templates and instruction, which can be challenging to vet for age/skill level appropriateness.

10. Excess Packaging

While excess packaging may not seem like a big deal—especially with all the boxing, gift wrapping, bow tying, and name tagging associated with Christmas—it’s still a concern in three different ways. First, there are numerous plastic inserts to hold the art supplies in place. Second, the items themselves are mostly single-use, making them environmentally unfriendly. Third, the cute little suitcase, stacking boxes, or other clever container that initially attracted your attention is generally unsuitable for holding anything other than the kit and ends up becoming a piece of clutter in your home. ☹️

Whew, that was a LOT of reasons. Hopefully, you’re breathing a small sigh of relief that you didn’t purchase an all-in-one kit without knowing the potential downsides. But, what will you do now, since you still want to give your child the gift of creativity this holiday season? Don’t worry, I’ve got you!

I’ve put together a handy gift guide full of artistic goodness that I personally curated for age/skill appropriateness, product quality, inspiration, and skill development. Click here to get your free copy.

I’ve also put together a short video course filled with bite-sized lessons about the types of products that typically come in art kits. The course speaks directly to your child, teaches how the supplies and tools work, how to make art with them, and includes fun templates with options for embellishment and improvisation to send your pint-sized Picasso’s imagination soaring. And the best part? It’s only $9, which will leave plenty of money for art supplies, and hours for you to enjoy some much-deserved relaxation while your artist experiences the joy of creativity! Click here for instant access.