A First Watercolor Set for Kids: Paper, Water and Five Easy Ways to Start

A first watercolor set needs three things: a simple washable pan set with a brush, two pots of water, and thick paper. The paper matters most. Thin printer paper wrinkles and tears when wet, which frustrates children fast. With heavier paper and two water pots (one to rinse, one clean), even a 6-year-old can paint a sky, a rainy day or a crayon-resist picture.

Below: what to set out, how to keep colors bright, and five easy first projects.

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The setup

Our guide to messy play without stress has more set-up and tidy-up tips.

Keep colors bright, not brown

1. Wet the brush, then touch it to one color.
2. Rinse in pot one and dab on the cloth before the next color.
3. Wet the paint again from pot two (the clean one).
4. Let one area dry before painting right next to it, unless you want colors to mix.

Five easy first projects

1. A sky wash: wet the top of the page with clean water, then touch in blue and watch it spread.
2. Crayon resist: draw with a white crayon, paint over it, and watch the drawing appear (more in how to color a night sky).
3. Rainbow stripes: paint stripes that just touch, and see where they mix.
4. Blob creatures: drop a blob of color, let it dry, then turn it into a creature with a pen.
5. Rainy day: gray-blue wash, then dots of clean water for raindrops.

Watercolor on coloring pages

Watercolor is too wet for thin coloring-book pages. For printed pages, print on heavier paper first. Our guide to printing coloring pages covers paper choices.

Common first-time problems

Tidy-up in five minutes

1. Rinse brushes and lay them flat to dry.
2. Leave the paint pans open to dry before closing the lid.
3. Pour away the water and wipe the table.
4. Lay paintings flat somewhere safe to dry.

Making tidy-up part of the activity, not a punishment after it, is one of the easiest ways to keep painting a regular treat. If paint does land somewhere it shouldn't, see our calm guide to art-supply marks.

Watercolor words, explained simply

A first lesson, step by step

1. Tape the paper to the table on all four sides; it dries flatter.
2. Paint the top half with clean water.
3. Touch blue onto the wet area and watch it spread.
4. While it's still wet, dab a crumpled tissue in two places: clouds appear.
5. Let it dry, then paint a dark green hill along the bottom with a slightly drier brush.
6. Peel off the tape for a clean white border.

Twenty minutes, three techniques, and a picture worth keeping (see how to keep kids' artwork).

Brushes and care

The brush in a starter set is fine to begin with. If your child keeps painting, one medium round brush with a good point is the most useful upgrade. Rinse brushes after use, shape the bristles to a point and dry them lying flat, never standing on their bristles.

When to move on from a starter set

If your child paints every week, asks for more colors or complains that the colors look pale, they've outgrown the starter set. A small set of student-quality pans and heavier paper is a natural next step.

Until then, a starter set is a perfectly good way to learn: the techniques (washes, wet on wet, lifting and resist) work the same with any paints. What makes the biggest difference at every stage is paper, so whatever set your child uses, heavier paper is the upgrade worth making first. Keep the starter set for travel and messy experiments once the better paints arrive.

The one thing to remember

Thick paper and clean water make watercolor easy. Start with a sky, and let the paint do the magic.