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Arts & Crafts Gifts – Tot Guide

Shopping for a little maker? All non-toxic and eco-friendly, these eight arts & crafts gift picks may just help them create their masterpiece!

little girl making christmas crafts with play dough

Summer Land Writer & Author

Is there anything better than a solid arts & crafts session?

Your hands get to keep busy while your mind is free to imagine, problem solve and create!

Arts & crafts is especially great for kids because it comes with numerous benefits for both physical and cognitive development.

The benefits of kids arts & crafts

When kids are crafting, they’re simultaneously strengthening their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, while having loads of fun. Getting to use tools like scissors and glue helps build confidence and allows them to feel a sense of pride. Crafting activities like moulding play dough have also been shown to be an effective way for kids to work through stress and anxiety.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of arts & crafts products on the market that contain not-so-great ingredients that can disrupt hormones, cause irritation to the eyes and skin and harm the environment.

To help you find the safest arts & crafts gifts for your kids, we’ll go over:

Chemicals to avoid in arts & crafts materials
What to look for when shopping for arts & crafts materials
The best arts & crafts gifts for kids

Scroll down to learn more!

Chemicals to avoid in arts & crafts materials

At The Tot, we never use or recommend anything that hasn’t passed The Tot Test. This means we’ve looked deep into third-party testing, examined ingredients lists and asked in-depth questions about a product’s composition to ensure it doesn’t contain any of the ingredients we avoid.

When it comes to arts & crafts supplies, we like to avoid:

Bisphenols (BPA & BPS)
Formaldehyde
Methyl Isobutyl Ketone
Lead & Other Heavy Metals
Ammonia
Harmful Phthalates
Harmful Solvents
PVC
Pesticides
Synthetic Fragrances

Click here to read the full list of ingredients we avoid and why.

What to look for when shopping for arts & crafts materials

While obviously we want the arts & crafts materials to facilitate open ended play and foster creativity, we also always look for things made with:

Non-toxic inks like vegetable or GOTS certified
Water-based paints
Low voc ingredients
Biodegradable ingredients

This helps ensure that if anything happens to end up in a little mouth or eye, nobody is at risk for any short or long-term health issues.

The Best Non-toxic Arts & Crafts Gifts

To help make your search for the best arts & crafts gifts easier, we’ve listed eight of our tried and trusted favorites below.

Once Kids Eco Bricks Wooden Set

Designed to inspire your child’s creativity and imagination, Once Kids Eco-Bricks offer a simplistic yet elegant approach to building bricks with heirloom quality. The wooden surface allows your child to utilize paint, markers, stain, or even carve to personalize their creation.

Once Kids Eco Bricks Wooden Set

$50

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Kid Made Modern Arts & Crafts Library

Hands down every kid needs an arts & crafts library like this epic set from Kid Made Modern!

Featuring over 1000 pieces like pipe cleaners, googly eyes, beads, glue, scissors, pom poms, and felt, kids have everything they need to design and make their creation come to life!

Kid Made Modern Arts & Crafts Library

$39.99

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Dough Parlour Personalized Name Mat, Non-Toxic Play Dough & Rolling Pin

Arts & crafts like play dough are a fantastic way to provide a sensory experience for kids. This is particularly great for those who may experience anxiety or simply have a lot of energy throughout the day!

Since nothing makes us happier than gifts that can be personalized, we are so excited about these double sided name mats from Dough Parlour! Featuring three tubs on non-toxic scented play dough and a rolling pin, kids will be having loads of fun while honing fine motor skills.