Diamond painting is really for a wide range of ages. It’s never too late to start diamond painting, but if you are looking for diamond painting kits for kids, its important to make sure you get something age appropriate.
What’s the Youngest Age for Diamond Painting?
Diamond painting is typically not recommended for kids 3 and under, because the small drills can be a choking hazard. However, many diamond painting kits are only recommended for kids ages 6 and up. It’s important to find diamond painting kits that have been tested with kids, because the adult diamond painting kits are not suitable for younger children.
Can Kids Do Adult Diamond Paintings?
Most kids ages 10 years old and up should be able to complete adult sized diamond painting kits, especially kits with easier to place round drills. Some 8-9 year olds who are mature and able to focus for long periods of time might be able to complete adult diamond painting kits as well.
Kids under the age of 8 will most likely not be able to complete a full adult diamond painting kit without help from an adult. The diamonds are just so small, and they need to be in the correct spot or the final painting will not look right. There are specific kits that are recommended for younger kids, so make sure to always check the description of the diamond painting kit you are purchasing to see if it’s recommended for a certain age.
Diamond Painting for 4-5 Year Olds
The best diamond painting kits for kids in the 4-5 year old range are small and have large diamonds that already have adhesive on them. Many of the diamond painting kits for 4-5 year olds have large gems that are actually stickers that they can peel off with their fingers and place onto the painting.
Kids this age would not have the fine motor skills or the patience to complete adult sized diamond paintings. Even the smallest adult diamond painting kits have tens of thousands of diamonds, and they need to be placed in the correct spot by matching up the correct symbol on the canvas to the correct package of colored diamonds. Not only that, the diamonds in adult diamond paintings are tiny, only a few centimeters wide, and they could easily be mistaken for colorful candy by smaller kids.
For kids ages 4-5 years old, Sungemmers kits are amazing. They are small sized paintings in kid friendly designs. The biggest plus is that the diamonds are like stickers, and they already have adhesive on one side. This eliminates the need for a pen tool altogether; kids can place these diamonds on the painting with their hands.
Another plus is that the diamonds only stick to the canvas with the gem side facing up, so there’s no need to worry about the diamonds getting onto the canvas upside down like they could on an adult diamond painting. Sungemmers kits come in a smaller 8 x 8″ size or an XL 12 x 10″ size, so you can start with the smaller ones to see if your child likes them, and then move up to the bigger size as they get more proficient.
The Sungemmers box has a warning that their kits are not suitable for kids 3 years and younger, because the diamonds are a choking hazard. The box also recommends these kits for children 6 and up, however, with some adult supervision and help, a 4-5 year old should be able to easily complete these kits.
We purchased these kits several times when my kids were 4 and 5, and they were able to use them with no issues and minimal help from me.
Diamond Painting for 6-8 Year Olds
Many 6-8 year olds should be able to complete small diamond paintings on their own, as long as the diamonds are large and easy to handle. Kids in this age range should also have the fine motor skills needed to use a diamond placing pen to get the diamonds into the right spot on their painting.
Most 6-8 year olds are still not quite ready for a full adult diamond painting kit on their own, because the adult kits have thousands of very tiny diamonds that need to be placed into the right spot. If the diamonds end up in the wrong place, the final picture may not make sense. For kids, these small diamonds can be hard to load onto the drill pen and maneuver in the small trays that come with the painting kits.
For 6-8 year olds, especially those who are just learning to diamond paint, a Dylan & Rylie kit like this would be ideal. It comes with placing pens, wax, and several stickers with spots for large diamonds. I love this kit because it looks like an adult diamond painting kit, and it even comes with little storage containers for the different colored diamonds, with a sticker for each container telling you what letter those diamonds correspond with on the painting.
This Dan & Darci sticker set is a cute diamond painting kit aimed at girls in this age range. The stickers are smaller, and it doesn’t come with the cases to hold the diamonds once they are open, but it could make some really cute keychains.
This Oriental Cherry Kit is another keychain set with mermaids and unicorns. It comes with a stylus pen for placing the diamonds, as well as the wax and diamonds that you would need. As a bonus, the spots where the diamonds need to go are color coded, so this kit would be easier for kids to complete on their own.
These canvas kits are great for boys and girls, and they are actually small paintings instead of stickers or keychains. They come in a variety of animal prints, and the spots where the gems go are color coded to help with placement. These kits have 2 different sizes of gems, there are some large ones and some of the smaller diamonds. This would be a great set to start preparing your child for larger adult diamond paintings if they would like to start working on those.
For 6-8 year olds who love Pokemon, these Pokemon diamond painting stickers are super cute and fun. They come with a pen and wax, as well as all of the diamonds you need to complete the stickers.
For the first diamond painting I ever purchased for myself, I let my 6 and 7 year old kids help me. It was actually a really fun project to work on together, because they would only be interested in placing diamonds for about five to ten minutes before they were bored and ready to go play. If it was just a painting for them, it would have been a lot of work to pull out the painting, get the gems set up and the pen loaded with wax, only for them to be done five minutes later.
Because we were working on it together, they were interested in helping when I was already working on the painting, and it got them interested in diamond painting without feeling the pressure of having to complete a massive painting by themselves. It was still something that they needed help with though – occasionally I would find gems in the wrong color spot, or gems that had been placed crookedly or upside down. If you don’t mind a few imperfections in your final painting, 6-8 year olds can definitely help work on an adult sized diamond painting.
Diamond Painting for 8-10 Year Olds
8-10 year olds should be able to complete a kid’s diamond painting set on their own. Many 8-10 year olds will even be able to complete small adult diamond painting kits with a bit of help. The diamonds in these kits are small, and the sorting trays are easy to knock over, so adult help is encouraged.
For 8-10 year olds who would like a kid’s diamond painting to complete on their own, this canvas kit is really fun.
Another full canvas set with familiar characters is here, sold by Perukoyo. This one has Mario, baby Yoda, Stitch, and Sonic the Hedgehog in a 4 pack.
For girls 8-10 who are ready to complete a canvas on their own, this adorable kitty (they also have unicorns available) is fun and has lots of bright colors. This would give someone lots of practice at switching between different colored diamonds to complete the painting.
For girls and boys in the 8-10 year old age range, this Halmolife sticker set is really fun. It comes with a stylus pen and wax to place the diamonds, and the pens come with soft grippers as well which are great for small fingers. It also comes with a large storage bag to hold all of your accessories, and smaller zippered bags to hold extra gems. These use the normal sized diamonds, not the larger ones found in most kids’ kits.
Any Star Wars fans out there? These Mandalorian stickers are fun and would be perfect for 8-10 year olds to complete on their own.
There are also superhero diamond painting stickers that would be great for kids in this age range. Slightly different version here also.
For kids closer to 10, these diamond painting kits would be great. There are a lot of different colored diamonds, so they would be able to switch between colors frequently without getting bored. The overall canvas size is small, 8 x 8″ so it could be completed by a 10 year old without help but would still provide a challenge.
Diamond Painting for 10-13 Year Olds
10-13 year olds should be able to complete adult level diamond paintings on their own. There are some kits that are more suited for beginners in this age range, but typically small sized adult paintings with few colors are best.