When I shop for kids’ gifts, I look for things that will keep their hands busy. Arts and craft kits are perfect for this. They’re colorful, engaging, multisensory and come with directions! Doing arts and craft kits is a great way to build visual and fine motor skills, as well as practice following directions.

To help with your shopping I’ve curated a few shopping lists, based by age. This list is for your preschool and early elementary aged kids. Remember, younger kids will need some help reading and following directions, so have some fun doing some arts and crafts with them!

This Farm Animal Paper Plate Craft Kit is  a great way to bond with your children, turning simple paper plates into friendly farm animals. Enjoy the time spent with the kids and make it a special moment worth remembering!

Being able to cut and paste is an important step toward school readiness. Cutting and Pasting gives preschoolers plenty of practice with scissors through interactive puzzles, cutting lines and shapes, cutting out and assembling simple toys, and other activities that improve manual dexterity and get them ready for handwriting.

Another great gift for working on fine motor and pencil skills are these rainbow scratch books. They are made with non-toxic materials and have minimal cleanup. Stencils and rainbow backgrounds make it so easy to create cards and art for all over the house. And it’s portable so it makes a great on the go activity!

What better way for your kids to express their creativity than assembling their own hand puppets and creating stories to act out with their new friends? This kit comes with everything they will need for hours of fun both independently and with your help.

Two of kids’ favorite creative skills (cutting with scissors and taping) come together in this set of two activity books.  These engaging books are a colorful way to build basic fine motor skills and encourage a sense of accomplishment!

If you’re looking for some STEAM ways to occupy your kids, VATOS Crafts Paper Making Kit combines the wonder of recycling science and the fun of art. It’s a perfect Montessori toy – especially with kids at home on vacation.

This Finger paint for toddlers is non toxic and washable, with a matching finger painting idea book, which lets children give full play to their creative talents.  It also cultivates children’s hand-eye coordination, observation skills, imagination, and creative expression.

Work on fine motor control and creativity with these adorable little magnets. With 26 different designs and 12 colors of paint , the kids will have so much fun creating magnets for all over the fridge. 

Nurture your child’s creative side with this fairy lantern kit. Using a variety of decorating materials, kids can choose the way they want to make their own fairy lights. They can even be used as nightlights. 

Say goodbye to all those mind-numbing video games and boring sweaters. If you’ve always loved making clay creatures, but don’t have time for painting and using a kiln to fire old-school clay, now you can surprise your child with an ultra-fun, easy to use, ultra-educational play set!

Check out this animal craft box. It’s filled with 4 different types of crafts for hours of fun! Simple enough to complete but challenging enough to teach your little ones valuable creative and fine motor skills. Each craft has an animal fact or joke to help them learn about them too.

This unicorn craft kit includes 3 craft projects. With different crafts in one box and so many hours of creative fun, this makes for a great gift and it encourages children to use their imagination, learn practical skills and build confidence.

This open ended craft allows kids to create a dinosaur toy that’s completely unique to them! Bring three dinosaurs to life by molding and covering plastic fossils with colorful clay. This clay dinosaur craft kit includes everything you need to get started!

It’s not often that an art project can be fun and engaging, but this kit achieves both! It fascinates children as soon as they pull it out of the box and is a perfect STEAM project. The assembly is fun, and the final result is immensely satisfying.

Are you looking for craft kits for older kids? Check out Give the Gift of Crafting to Your Big Kids. If your kid is more into STEM inspired activities, check out Put Some STEAM Under Your Tree. 

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