Choosing paper for children doesn’t have to be complicated! Here is the Artful Parent’s guide to picking the best paper for your kids’ art activities.
Updated July 2025
When choosing art supplies for kids, don’t forget the paper! Paper for children can be anything from a sketchbook to a stack of colored construction paper to a roll of easel paper. Quality varies widely, as does price.
So how do you decide what paper to buy?
We’ve tried many different kinds of papers over the years. And here is our list of tried-and-true paper for kids’ art! And for even more ideas, visit the Artful Parent Amazon shop!
Choosing Paper for Children
When choosing paper for children and their art activities, you’ll want to consider what art materials the kids will be using with the paper as well as value (which we define as a good intersection of quality and price).
Paper for Drawing and Painting
We use this thicker art paper the most for our drawing, painting, and collage projects. It’s our general all-purpose kids art paper. We keep a stack of this wherever our kids like to work and draw.
If you’re only going to get one kind of paper, this is the kind we would suggest (or something similar).
We also often purchase large sheets of poster board, both white and in different colors. You can cut them down to smaller sizes or shapes, or keep them whole. If you have a child who likes to work big, this is a great way to let them do so!
For a free option, you can also reuse cardboard and paper grocery bags for art.
Watercolor Paper
For watercolor painting, we typically use this large Watercolor Pad because it comes in a variety of sizes! It is also decent quality for a decent price.
You can use any paint (like tempera) on watercolor paper, and we do, but it’s more expensive than other paper so you might not want to.
We also paint with watercolors on poster board and mat board.
Paper for the Kids’ Art Easel
We love to use our easel and so having a roll of paper for it is a necessity.
We also like both white and kraft paper rolls for a variety of big projects such as body tracing or when we want to cover the table with paper and draw together. They work great as a table cover when doing messy art, too!
Paper for Working Tiny
Whether your kids like to work small, draw small, paint small, or you just want to mix things up, trying offering a variety of paper sizes for art. Small is especially fun!
Cut regular-sized paper down into smaller pieces or buy a pack of blank index cards as we often do.
Post-It notes, mini sketchbooks, or white labels for sticker making are all other great options for drawing small.
Sketchbooks
We also keep inexpensive spiral bound sketchbooks at the kids art table, in their bedroom, and in the car. If you pay about $4 per sketchbook, you don’t have to worry when your kids use it for all sorts of drawing, writing, cutting, and taping projects.
And for more special occasions, like birthdays and Christmas, there are so many fun sketchbook options!
Colored Paper
Colored paper is a childhood staple. We love construction paper for all kinds of collage and art projects! And AstroBrights cardstock is fun for its vibrant color.
How about you? What papers do you use the most in your house for children’s art?
More of Our Favorite Kids Art Supplies
- Visit the Artful Parent Amazon shop!
- The Best Art Supplies for Kids
- The Best Tools & Art Supplies for Kids
- The BEST Art Supplies for Drawing
- 5 Must Have Art Supplies for Beginners
- How to Get Kids Art Supplies for Cheap
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