Best Colored Pencils for Kids: 7 Sets That Make a Great Starting Point

Introduction

When a child shows an interest in drawing or coloring, the supplies you put in their hands matter more than most parents realize. A set of pencils that barely leaves any pigment on the paper can end a child’s enthusiasm before it even starts. A set that delivers bright, rich color with very little effort can do the opposite and build a genuine foundation for art.

This list was put together for children roughly between the ages of 5 and 12. Below that age, crayons, paints and craft materials are usually the better fit. From around age 5, hand dexterity and hand-to-eye coordination give kids enough control to get real value from a proper colored pencil.

Every pencil here has been judged against the same five criteria, and each one also happens to perform well on printer paper, coloring book paper, and even darker papers, which matters around Halloween and Christmas when kids make cards and crafts.

What Makes a Great Kids’ Colored Pencil

Five elements shaped this list. First, blending and layering simply do not matter for this age group. It is all about color, not technique. Second, price sits in the average band for this category of art supplies, keeping things affordable without falling into the trap of giant cheap gift boxes that look impressive but contain almost no pigment.

Third, set size stays modest at around 24, or 36 at most. Handing a young child a 300-color set is overwhelming and wasteful. Fourth and fifth, the pencils need to be sturdy and easy to sharpen. Very soft cores snap and shatter down the shaft, which means a dropped pencil becomes unusable for a child. Every pencil in this list balances softness with durability so kids can actually get color without scrubbing hard enough to tear the paper.

Crayola Signature Colored Pencils

Crayola is the brand most of us grew up with, so it earns a place here, but the Signature line rather than the ordinary range. The Signature set is a step above the standard school pencils, with a 3.8 mm core in a 7.5 mm barrel, just above average size for this category. The core is strong and needs little effort to lay down color on paper.

The set is a 24-pencil collection, and each barrel end has a decent color identification flash so kids can see at a glance what color they are grabbing. It works well on Bristol paper, printer paper, and coloring book paper, delivering good pigmentation across all of them. It is not the best pencil on this list, but it is a strong, familiar starting point.

Staedtler Ergosoft Colored Pencils

The Staedtler Ergosoft pairs a triangular barrel with Staedtler’s anti-break system, which makes it genuinely robust. Drop it off a desk and the core is unlikely to shatter, which is exactly what you want from a kids’ pencil. It sharpens well, though the triangular barrel can cause a slightly juddery experience in some sharpeners. Nothing significant enough to put a child off using them.

The entire barrel is colored the same as the core, so color identification is instant: kids just look at the barrel and know exactly what they are picking up. It is a slimline pencil and an easy one for children to handle. It performs nicely across paper types, including coloring book paper and darker surfaces.

Bruynzeel Colored Pencils

Bruynzeel makes one of the most practical kids’ sets around, sold in either a blue tin or a pink tin with identical pencils inside. The two tins exist purely for choice; the colors are exactly the same in both. Bruynzeel consistently offers strong value across its range, and this set is no exception.

It uses a 3.3 mm core in a hexagonal 7.4 mm barrel. It applies color with very little pressure, which is the key trait for this whole list: kids should never have to scrub hard enough to rip printer paper. It sharpens beautifully and works well on Bristol vellum, Bristol smooth, coloring book paper, and darker papers too. The set comes as a 24, which suits this age group perfectly.

Faber-Castell Black Edition Colored Pencils

Faber-Castell has a reputation for quality art supplies, and the Black Edition lives up to it. The pencil features a 3.3 mm core in a 7.8 mm triangular barrel, a similar shape to the Staedtler Ergosoft. The cores are relatively opaque, and this set in particular looks beautiful on black, brown or gray paper, which makes it a great pick for holiday cards and crafts.

European brands like Faber-Castell take children’s art supplies seriously and do not cut corners on them. The Black Edition is a good example of that approach: solid build, easy color application, and vivid results on almost any paper a child is likely to use.

Staedtler Super Soft Colored Pencils

Part of Staedtler’s Design Journey range, aimed at younger teens and children from around age 7 or 8 down, the Super Soft set reviewed here is a 24-pencil collection. Small print on the back of the tin confirms it carries the same anti-break system as the Ergosoft, so despite being slimmer with a 3.2 mm core in a 6.9 mm hexagonal barrel, it keeps that reassuring robustness.

The color strength is impressive. A botanical drawing of orange lilies made with this set showed just how vibrant the pigments are, and the pencils also perform beautifully on black, brown or gray paper. It is a slightly slimmer alternative to the Ergosoft with essentially the same durability story.

Lyra G’Natura Colored Pencils

The Lyra G’Natura is a genuinely thick, sturdy pencil: a 3.8 mm core in a round 7.8 mm barrel with a natural wood finish that looks lovely on a desk. The color payoff is staggering, delivering strong, vivid color on Bristol smooth, vellum, printer paper, cartridge paper, coloring book paper, and dark papers alike.

The only downside is color identification. Every barrel looks the same, so kids have to read the printed color name or look at the core itself to pick the right shade. That is a small trade-off for what is otherwise one of the most robust and vibrant pencils on this list. It is available as a 36 set, though 24 sets exist too, and the price gap between the two is only a couple of pounds, so the larger set is worth considering.

Faber-Castell Classic Red Colored Pencils

Taking the top spot is the Faber-Castell Classic Red, and the 60 set is the version to look at. In the UK it sits at around £14 versus £11 for the 24 set, so for roughly three pounds more you get far more range. Better still, the 60 set packaging opens out into a share-friendly layout, designed so two or more children can split the pencils between them. That makes it ideal for families with more than one child.

The pencil uses a slim 3.0 mm core in a 7 mm hexagonal barrel, and the entire barrel is lacquered the same color as the core, so color selection is effortless. A drawing of Dory from Finding Nemo on a smooth Bristol surface showed just how bright and vibrant these colors are. They are not fully opaque but are opaque enough to work nicely on dark paper, again useful for holiday cards and crafts.

Overall Buying Advice

All seven of these pencils avoid the worst trap in kids’ art supplies: products that fight the child for every scrap of color. Each one lays down rich, vibrant pigment with minimal effort on whatever paper is available, including plain printer paper and coloring book paper.

Start with a 24 set. If the child takes to it, you can always move up to larger sets and add more products later. This is not about telling anyone how to parent, but giving a child a good first experience with art supplies means that if they later walk away from art, it is because they genuinely did not enjoy it, not because the supplies let them down.

Conclusion

Every pencil here delivers on the fundamentals: sturdy cores, easy sharpening, simple color identification, and vivid color on nearly any surface. The Faber-Castell Classic Red stands out for its share-friendly 60 set, the Lyra G’Natura for sheer robustness and vibrancy, and the Staedtler options for their anti-break durability. Whichever one suits your child best, each of these sets gives kids a solid foundation for exploring art on their own terms.