Kids Craft Presents

A really lovely gift – for birthday, Christmas or just good behaviour – this kit consists of basic white pyjamas, four paint colours and a brush, plus a few ideas for designs. The sizes start at 18 months, so for a very small toddler making anything resembling an actual picture might be a stretch, but you could either let them run riot with the paints or keep a guiding hand firmly on theirs. The largest size goes up to 12 years, so you'll probably have to persuade older kids not to try and paint Justin Beiber on their nightwear. Unlike some other fabric-painting kits, the 100% cotton PJs are very soft and machine washable. The paints come in yellow, pink, red and purple or dark blue, light blue, red and yellow. Nominally that's girls and boys, though no reason to stick to that. With any luck, you might even find you've suddenly got a small person who actually wants to go to bed for a change ...

If you already have a keen painter on your hands and are just fed up with the results being all over your kitchen table, you need a good old-fashioned kids' painting easel. This one is robust and multi-purpose: you get a magnetic whiteboard, a chalkboard on the reverse and a roll of paper to pull down for paint-based creations. With, of course, the tray underneath for storage. The simple wooden design means it won't look too out of place in your no-doubt beautifully stylish house.

Gorgeous little kits from a great website – you can make a monkey, a ballerina, Henry VIII, a witch, Father Christmas and a whole lot more. The kit includes all the material needed for the actual creation, and the paint to decorate with. The cardboard is made from recycled material and they come in a sweet little tube-shaped package, which makes them perfect for presents. The instructions are clear and well set out, and although the instructions suggest an age of six and up, you could certainly do them with smaller children, just with a firmer guiding hand. Thoroughly recommended.

These simple little kits are a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. What's really clever is that every element of the packaging is used, including the box they come in and the instruction leaflet – so no waste whatsoever. There are four kits in the range: make your own picture, space kit, aquarium and theatre. All the elements are also sourced from Fair Trade suppliers. The space kit went down particularly well with little crafty fingers.

If there's one thing the pre-school set like more than stickers, it's stamps. Mellissa & Doug have a wide range of both at very reasonable prices – as any parent of a sticker-obsessed toddler will know, you could go bankrupt feeding this particular habit. The wooden stamp kit (others are available in the range, including animals, horses and that old favourite, dinosaurs) can be used to create little stories, more involved pictures or, if you take your eye off the ball, a new look for your newly painted walls. The inkpad has two colours of ink which are washable (thank god) and non-toxic.

Firstly, a warning. You may buy this for a child (it's suitable from around age six) but you may well find yourself sucked in to badge-creation yourself. The starter kit contains the badgemaker and the materials for 15 of your own creations (refills are available to buy separately). Other than that, there are no rules – you can use photos, magazine pictures, maps, precious works of art or last week's shopping list to create wearable art. Alarmingly addictive.

This little game from Crayola – purveyors of fine crayons and paints – is a good purchase for kids who need a bit of competitive encouragement in their arty pursuits. Suitable for children from age four up, the idea is to teach them how to mix colours together and what the results will be. It's probably better for slightly older children as it requires some knowledge of colours, some accuracy in using the game mechanics and a bit of patience. It's also a good one to play with them, as you need to make sure you don't "dial" the same colour twice – or you get some rather odd results.

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