We tested 13 colored-pencil sets with 60 kids and parents, and found the affordable, vibrant Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils best for most beginners. The Best Colored Pencils Further reading ...

The Prismacolor Premier sets (about 85¢ per pencil for the 24-pack and 79¢ for the 72-pack) are a little more expensive than our budget pick the Prismacolor’s Scholar Colored Pencils (roughly ...

Thankfully, Prismacolor sells its Premier line of soft-core colored pencils individually by color. Otherwise, I would go broke if I had to buy a new set every time I wore my black one down to a nub.