Best art and book gifts for kids

With Christmas right around the corner, you may be thinking about best gifts for kids who love to draw and create. Of course, you want to encourage reading, but what are some good books that would make a great addition to your family library and that would encourage your kids to read? Today I want to share with you my time tested gift guide for all things related to books and art. It was hard to narrow down, so these are just a few of my best ideas for books and art supplies I'd be happy to give or receive for the kids I care about in my life. These are tried and true, tested, and I love using them with kids, myself. 

When you give an art supply or a book to a child, you are giving the gift of:

• cultivating their imagination
• encouraging them to make the world a more beautiful place
• inviting them to grow and explore

These are gifts they will not use just once and toss aside, but hopefully will use over and over again. They can be used alone or with someone else, growing family bonds and friendships. Books and art can form your kids into more creative, imaginative people who are interested in the world around them and are interesting to interact with as human beings. Books and art can help form them spiritually, also, as they develop empathy with characters they read about, and as they make and give items of beauty to others.

You can get a pdf of this gift guide here which is a 7 page list of picture books, chapter books, creative kits, great art supplies, and gifts that help you display kids' art. I think you will find really helpful as you curate best gifts to give your kids this Christmas. (All links are to Amazon, which means nothing costs you more to buy through the link but it does benefit Storygalorey. Thank you for supporting this business!)

Here is a small sample from the free guide of my suggestions for great gifts for kids who love art and reading:

Picture Books worth buying, reading over and over, and owning:

 Obviously, there are a million more we love. But here are a few I’ve chosen for variety and unique appeal. These are ones either Storygalorey kids love, or our family has loved. 

People by Peter Spier

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena

If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen

Classic Chapter Books for reading aloud:

Note: many of these have been made into movies. I highly recommend the books, and do not recommend any of the movies. The beauty of these stories is in the storytelling of the author’s voice. Some are funny, some are poignant, all are well written and classics in our family.

Tumtum and Nutmeg By Emily Bearn- Recommended by my friend Andi, teacher and mom of 5 and grandma extraordinaire

By the Great Horn Spoon! By Sid Fleishchman-This funny book is takes readers to the Gold Rush Days with action packed writing that draws in anyone who loves adventure. 

Seven Daughters for Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen and Bahija Lovejoy-Our girls argued over who got to take this book with them when they grew up and moved into their own homes. I finally bought them all a copy. This book is great for upper elementary and middle school.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis-formative for any age and wonderful storytelling and writing. I can’t recommend highly enough. 

Find more great books to give kids here in the free gift guide.

Creativity Kits: 

These are great for kids 5-8 and up. Usually you can find a kit that is either broad enough to include all interests (like marbled paper), or can be chosen according to your child’s specific interests (like dinosaurs or jewelry-making.) Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Scratch Art Kits like this one

Marbled paper kits-like this one

Light Pad for tracing-like this one 

 Find more great art kit ideas to give kids here in the free gift guide.

Favorite Art Supplies to cultivate creativity: 

It’s great to have the regular old crayons and crayola markers in your art supply boxes, but how inspiring to have the upgraded special ones! Here are a few great art supplies I either gave my own kids for gifts, or like to use for Storygalorey lessons:

Prismacolor colored pencils-great for all ages

Mr. Sketch markers-great for all ages

Posca Paint Pens-Fun for adding details over paint, or for painting rocks.

Find more great art supply ideas to give kids here in the free gift guide.

 Online Art Classes

Why not try Storygalorey Drawing for Kids, Level 1, Level 2, or bundle, for the times when you want to encourage creativity at home? You’ll get on demand art teaching for the whole family whenever you want to have art time.

You can learn more here.

Ways to put your kids’ artwork on display:

Families with prolific artists need a way to show their stuff! Here are some ideas to get you started for that New Year’s Resolution of highlighting some of their artwork so your kids know you value it.

Changeable Art Display Frame-holds 100 pieces of kids art that you can easily rotate or add to.

Wire Picture Hanger with clips-We use one similar to this one in Storygalorey.

Magnetic Artwork Display Frame-I love the versatility of this idea.

 Find more great art display ideas to give parents and grandparents here in the free gift guide.

That's a sample! Hope it is helpful in your Christmas shopping for meaningful and better kids' gifts that will impact them far beyond just Christmas Day! For your free complete pdf version, go here.

Have a wonderful week making art and reading books!