Melissa & Doug Deluxe Standing Art Easel - Dry-Erase Board, Chalkboard, Paper Roller

What a great toy! I am so glad we bought this for our daughter! Made of wood, it looks so much nicer and less "juvenile" than some of the other plastic easels that can be found instore/online. Adjustable to accommodate your growing child- we have it on the middle setting for our 4 year old. The top of the board is a little high, but she has no problems with standing on a stool to complete her masterpiece. The chalkboard/ dry erase boards are nice and wide (though the paper that amazon sells is narrower). Both trays for the paints/utensils are roomy (we were able to set up 10 small jars of paint...2oz size, i believe, and a cup of water, on the blue tray, with no problem). Brightly colored...it just plain looks fun to the child. Folds up for easy storage (we are leaving ours set up for now). Assembly was very easy- although the instructions/illustrations could have been a little clearer. All the pieces arrived in perfect condition- no cracks, scratches, etc. Easel DOES contain a paper roll (if you look at the picture, you will see it in between the two sides of the easel...it screws in on the red brace between the legs- paper feeds up and then down on the dry erase side). Top of the dry erase frame features a paper cutter for easy removal of your Picasso's newest masterpiece (though mom or dad might want to tear the sheet for the kid- sometimes kids don't have the dexterity to make a nice clean tear across...wind up ripping their artwork in half). The 4 clips do feel like they could open a little wider- They open just about as wide of the easel's thickness (does that make sense? It would just be a nicer feeling if the mouth of the clip opened really wide...). Easel isn't flimsy, but it definitely doesn't have a super heavy/secure feel to it. Not that I am saying it's a wobbly death trap....just don't expect it to be a heavy duty item. Boards are thin- maybe if they could be a little thicker? Still nothing that takes away from the fun and quality though! I mentioned the board width and the paper roll size earlier....Not a problem for older kids who can control their movements, but younger kids might have trouble staying inside the paper. If you are worried about that, don't purchase the paper that amazon sells- look for a different brand and keep in mind the width of the easel. Cleanup wasn't a problem though (provided you don't leave any wandering paint marks out to sit for days and/or are using permanent paints...Our daughter was using washable paint today and i got to the runaway marks once she was done playing. Quick wipe of a wet cloth/paper towel is all it took!). Have not yet used the other side of the board, but remember other users advice and season your chalkboard first. We paid $28 and some change for this (shipping came out to only a few dollars or so). For that price, you can not get a better easel period. We've been wanting to get one of these for our daughter for quite a while...looked at others. Even a Little Tikes easel will set you back at least $50, and that just seemed too "babyish" for our soon to be kindergartener. Not sure if amazon's standard shipping is always like this, but for us, it was *lightning fast*. No joke. I received an email shortly after order that said the easel would arrive on July 25th (about 2weeks after placing order). Today, only 5 days (3 buisness days) later, both the paper and easel arrived. Hooray for speedy shipping! And, as any parent can attest, very awesome to have both items arrive at the same time (imagine how boring that would be to a kid to have the paper arrive well in advance of what you need to use it with..."you mean i have to wait before i use this??"). LOVE LOVE LOVE this product! If you are in the market for an easel, definitely snatch this up if the price remains under $30. But even if it goes up to full price, i think it would be well worth the price. The quality of the workmanship and the space available for play is wonderful. I rate this five paintbrushes up!!! :D

We purchased this easel on Amazon for our 2 1/2 year old daughter for Christmas. To be honest, I had been considering a more expensive easel, based on the feedback about the chalkboard on the M + D easel. However, a $100+ easel wasn't in the budget, so I went ahead and took a risk. When we opened the box and assembled this easel, I was impressed with its overall quality, as well as the ease of assembling the product. (It took a little over 30 minutes, but even with two 'assembly-challenged' people, the whole process went very smoothly.) There was nothing in the instructions about seasoning the chalkboard, but based on earlier reviews, I opted to go ahead and do it. The chalkboard didn't look all that different when I completed the process, and I wondered if it had made any difference at all. However, when my daughter wrote on it with chalk this morning (and another 50 times today), it erased just fine. (However, my daughter is only using the M + D chalk with it -- see paragraph below.) I went ahead and purchased the M + D easel accessory kit as well. I would absolutely recommend it as a companion set to this easel! The paint cups are easy to use, just about spill proof, and fit nicely in the area provided in the paint tray area. The brushes match the tops of the paint cups, so it is very easy for little ones to keep track of which brush should go in which cup. The chalk in the accessory kit is durable, but gentler on the board than regular chalkboard chalk. (I bought some Crayola chalkboard chalk for my daughter's stocking, but I tried it and it started to "scratch" the easel chalkboard, so I opted not to give it to her and instead just let her use the M + D chalk. I will be paying the extra few bucks to replace it with the more M + D chalk when the time comes. The only negative was that the dowel rod that the paper roll sits on was splintered and crooked. However, I called Melissa and Doug's customer service center and was greeted by a pleasant customer service representative who processed my request and assured me a new piece would be on its way in a few days. The one in the box was functional for the time being, so it didn't impede my daughter's enjoyment of her Christmas present. In summary, we are thrilled to have found a quality easel for such a bargain! (It was listed for around $35 when I purchased it.)

This would be the best gift for a creative little person. Very sturdy, Good quality, super cute, has great spaces to store art supplies and adjustable in height for smaller people (my son is 3’ tall) to older artists (3-9 years old) Get the Melissa and Doug easel kit, it has everything you need with reusable bits. The extra kit you can buy has all the coloured containers to hold the paint, coloured coded paint brushes so they don’t mix up the colours, paint, a large roll of paper, chalk and eraser and dry erase marker. It was ok to put together on my own, a had to back up a step to get it right and would be easier with two adults working on it. Make sure the screws are tight and the kids won’t be able to loosen them. My ONLY complaint is my chalk board is not chalk board paint but a matte black plastic coating, it doesn’t show the chalk well at all but I don’t see any of these types of comments in the reviews so I’m wondering if I have a manufacturers defect. Overall, very happy with this purchase, would highly recommend

Se nota la calidad. Es estable y a mis nietos les encantan. Sirve tanto para pintar como para escribir. Muy buena compra para fomentar que dibujen. Tiene dos caras y es grande.

Es una excelente opción para los niños. Les va a encantar la utilidad, el tamaño y la posibilidad de guardar materiales.

Was a little worried when reading reviews but very happy with product. Great quality did take a little time to put together but very well written instructions and easy to follow pictures. Also love how you can change the height of the boards as your child gets older.

Firstly, very pleased to share that the product was delivered on time and in a perfect condition! Amazon had done a double packing to avoid any damage. The easel is exactly what I wanted for my 3.5 yr old daughter! She had been shying away from any type of drawing activities, which was making me worried. Ever since she's seen her easel, she's only found writing and drawing on the board! It's just right for a child who's learning to write! And of course would be of use in the years to come as well! Just a slight hitch : took us some time to assemble it!! The markings and the diagram could have been simpler!! But all worth it!!