17 of the best arts and crafts toys and kits for 2025
Tap into your child's creative potential with these top painting, sewing, making and moulding kits, for ages 3 years to 12 years
"There's something special about a toy or activity that unleashes your child's creative potential – even if the carpet clean-up can be painful!" says Helen Brown, author of Parenting for Dummies.
She goes on: "Whether it's slapping paint onto a piece of paper (and most of the floor) or carefully creating a model or toy, an arts and crafts session boosts your child's creative thinking and fine-finger control and, best of all, gives the whole household some cracking wall art or shelf displays."
So, we've painted and glued, sewn, drawn, modeled and cut our way through loads of arts and crafts toys – and, crucially, so have a small legion of child testers – to bring you the best arts and crafts toys to buy your child.
From major Play-doh kits to mini crafts on the go, this list is sure to get your child's artistic skills flowing.
Best arts and crafts at a glance
- Melissa & Doug Unicorn Sticker WOW, £8.50
- EPOCH Aquabeads Nail Studio Design ‘n’ Display, £19.99
- Rex & Rose Air Dry Clay Activity Kit, £26
- Skillmatics Foil Fun Unicorns & Princesses, £14.99
- Clementoni IDEA! The Highlighter Studio, £17
- Rex London Woodland Stitching Set, £6.95
- Paint Pop Face Paints, £6.99
- Ultimate Loom Band Crafting Mega Set, £12
- Spirograph Junior Design Playset, £19.99
- WaxiDoodles, £16.99
- Aquabeads Deluxe Craft Backpack, £34.99
- Play-Doh Kitchen Creations Busy Chef's Restaurant Playset, £17.99
- Carddies the Card People to Colour and Go, £8
- Gift in a Tin Magical Fairy Fun, £11
- Kinetic Sand Sandisfactory, £17.99
- Eugy, £9.99
Best arts and craft toys for children in 2025
1. Melissa & Doug Unicorn Sticker WOW, £8.50
Available at: Amazon
Age suitability: 3+ | Best for age: 3-7 | Batteries: None
Use this cute, collectible Melissa & Doug character to stamp sweets-themed stickers on the 24-page Ice Cream activity pad and on other creative art projects. Perfect for easy art and taking with you on the move.
My daughter did really enjoy playing with this toy — I think any child who loves stickers will enjoy this. Having the stamper makes it really easy to use and there are lots of different design of stickers within the 300 loaded.
2. EPOCH Aquabeads Nail Studio Design ‘n’ Display, £19.99
Available at: Hamleys and Very
Age suitability: 4+ | Best for age: 4+ | Batteries: None
Take your child's Aquabeads experience to the next level with this nail art kit. The Design ‘N’ Display Nail Studio includes Aquabeads Nails and decorations for over 60 designs, and features a worktable, tweezers, water applicator, and plenty of stickers.
My daughter was beyond excited to play with this. This toy enabled her to do her nails independently without the mess. It also gave her the added thrill of doing Mummy’s nails which she always wants to do but is always a very messy activity.
3. Rex & Rose Air Dry Clay Activity Kit, £26
Available at: Not on the Highstreet
Age suitability: 7+ | Best for age: 7+ | Batteries: None
Ready to be squished, squashed, poked and rolled our air dry clay activity kit contain's 24 resealable pots of air drying clay plus fun accessories.
There are so many colours of clay to choose from to create so many cool things. I really like the sparkles – I use them to create pretty things like sparkly doughnuts.
4. Skillmatics Foil Fun Unicorns & Princesses, £14.99
Available at: Amazon
Age suitability: 4+ | Best for age: 4-9 | Batteries: None
This set features 100+ Foam Stickers, 100 colourful foil sheets, 10 picture canvases, googly eyes and more accessories, to help your child create stunning pictures of princess, fairies and unicorns. You can spark hours of creative play with these shiny designs.
I love that there are lots of different backgrounds and I can make different pictures. I’m going to do another picture after this. I really like the colour foils and it’s like magic.
5. Clementoni IDEA! The Highlighter Studio, £17
Available at: ASDA, Argos and Ryman
Age suitability: 7+ | Best for age: 7+| Batteries: None
This unique creative studio can help you make your very own personalised highlighters. The set contains over 50 accessories. Filters, tips, inks and character toppers can be used to make six highlighters.
My daughters eyes lit up once she saw the box and her reaction when first opening the box was pure delight and used the words... ’Wow, this is just so cool!’ She loved that most of the pen making she could do independently.
6. Rex London Woodland Stitching Set, £6.95
Available at: Waterstones
Age suitability: 3+ | Best for age: 4+ | Batteries: None
Learn to sew colourful animals with the Rex London Woodland stitching set. This kit is ideal for little ones as it offers a needle-free introduction to sewing, in a plastic-free kit. There are 8 cardboard woodland figures to sew, in retro colours and bold designs including a bird, trees, rabbit, squirrel, bear, deer, and owl. The set has 8 strings that little hands can thread through holes in the designs. Once complete, the strings can be untied and removed so that the kit can be used again and again – alternatively, the animals can be hung up and used as decorations.
It’s fun! I love sewing all the different colours and animals.
7. Paint Pop Face Paints, £6.99
Available at: Amazon
Age suitability: 3+ | Best for age: 4 | Batteries: None
Think mess-free face painting isn’t possible? Step forward Paint Pop Face Paint Sticks, where non-runny paint sticks are contained in plastic tubes. Simply twist the stick to push the tip of the paint up, then you’re ready to get creative. This parent-friendly pack includes 12 bright, vibrant colour sticks of face paint along with white and black sticks. A brush is also included to help with those finer details. And, if you're struggling for inspiration, the pack also includes an easy-to-follow guide to create 8 different face designs, but of course there's unlimited scope to create your own designs.
I like to be a tiger with lots of orange!
8. Ultimate Loom Band Crafting Mega Set, £12
Available at: The Works and The Entertainer
Age suitability: 8+ | Best for age: 8 | Batteries: None
The craze for loom bands doesn't seem to be going anywhere, and this great value kit is a brilliant way for children to get involved. Featuring 3,000 pieces including loom bands in all the colours of the rainbow, this bumper set really offers a lot for under £10.
My daughter was really excited to try out this gorgeous loom kit, and after a couple of practices she mastered it. She found the bands really cool and wanted to show them off to her friends – she now has her friends queuing up wanting to have a go and create their own bracelets.
9. Spirograph Junior Design Playset, £19.99
Available at: Selfridges and Amazon
Age suitability: 3+ | Best for age: 4 | Batteries: None
The enduringly popular Spirograph has been reinvented specifically for younger children in this colourful playset. Inside the box (which doubles as a carry case) you'll find chunky plastic gears, felt tips pens and paper that you fix to the front of the workstation. Everything is designed for little hands to master and the entertainment value is high as a result.
Iris has been playing with it repeatedly. My favourite moment was her teaching Great Nanny how to use it, who remembered it from the one she bought me!
10. WaxiDoodles, £16.99
Available at: The Happy Puzzle Company
Age suitability: 3+ | Best for age: 5 | Batteries: None
These re-usable modelling sticks are coated with a wax formula so they stick to each other, and to almost any surface, but don’t leave permanent marks behind. Incredibly versatile, WaxiDoodles are twistable, pliable and durable, making it easy for children to make cool 2D and 3D creations, without the mess usually associated with modelling clay.
It's fantastic! You can do all kinds of stuff – you can even draw with it.
11. Aquabeads Deluxe Craft Backpack, £34.99
Available at: Amazon
Age suitability: 4+ | Best for age: 6 | Batteries: None
The Aquabeads Deluxe Craft Backpack set comes with 1,000 beads in 40 colours that can be arranged to create all kinds of designs, from a cute puppy to a space rocket, that you spray with water to set solid. Inside the backpack (which is great for storage or decorating to show off those creations), there's a flip tray, double-sided Aquabeads pen, sprayer, design pegs and 2 template sheets with instructions.
My daughter loves her Aquabeads Backpack. She has used the templates as well as her own imagination to create designs. She has even gifted her creations to friends and family; she is so proud when she sees them on display.
12. Play-Doh Kitchen Creations Busy Chef's Restaurant Playset, £17.99
Age suitability: 3+ | Best for age: 4+ | Batteries: None
This bumper kitchen-themed playset includes the L32cm x W34cm x H12cm 2-sided Chef's Restaurant, 4 stampers, a roller, menu board, spatula, knife, plate and 5 tubs of Play-Doh. It's got everything a child could need to set up their own little Play-Doh restaurant, serving up pizzas, burgers, pasta, and more.
My daughter was very excited to play with this toy – she was able to use the sliding griddle with ease and loved that she could pull down the handle independently. Ada was able to be really creative, making up a whole plate of food, experimenting with different parts of the kitchen and really getting engrossed in her play. She enjoyed using the knife to cut around the moulds and really developed her hand and eye coordination.
13. Carddies the Card People to Colour and Go, £8
Available at: Amazon and Buy Britain
Age suitability: 3+ | Best for age: 5+ | Batteries: None
This set of 12 double-sided, hand-drawn characters on white card for your child to colour, also comes with a double-sided hand-drawn card scene to colour in and use as a backdrop. Choose from 15 different sets on themes including Ballet, Cavemen, Family, Christmas, Fairies, Farm, School, Pirates and Weddings. Each set comes with 12 colouring pencils and 12 plastic stands for propping the characters up.
14. Gift in a Tin Magical Fairy Fun, £11
Available at: Amazon and Bright Minds
Age suitability: 6+ | Best for age: 7 | Batteries: None
We love this unique little tin that contains all the materials you need to make up to 8 flower fairies and a fairy door. It's a sweet little craft kit that stands out for its excellent picture-led instructions – and we really like that you get to make a fairy door as well as the fairies.
15. Kinetic Sand Sandisfactory, £17.99
Available at: Selfridges, Amazon and Argos
Age suitability: 3+ | Best for age: 5 | Batteries: None
Kinetic sand (silky-feeling play sand you can squish and mould and which never dries out) is hugely popular with children, and we can understand why. This set, containing red, blue, yellow and black kinetic sand and over 10 different tools and moulds for slicing, scooping and creating shapes, has everything you need for a super-fun, sensory crafting session.
This set comes with much more than the standard kinetic-sand kits: there are so many tools we’ve never used before. The cube mould was Oliver's favourite.
16. Eugy, £9.99
Available from: Amazon and Hamleys
Age suitability: 6+| Best for age: 6+ | Batteries: None
Children will love watching their 3D animal models come to life as they slot and and glue together numbered pieces of (biodegradable) card. Each finished model (1 per pack) is between 10cm and 25cm high and you can choose from a range of animals, including a unicorn, narwhal, parrot, sloth and penguin. Everything you need is included, right down to the non-toxic glue.
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Authors
Sarah has worked as a writer for over 15 years, writing about parenting for Family Traveller, Baby magazine and 5 Minute Fun, MadeForMums and The Independent’s IndyBest.
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