The BEST easel?

[phirey]

I want to get DD an easel for her upcoming 2nd birthday, and I want to know the best one for home use. I was looking at one at Costco the other day with write-on wipe-off on one side and chalkboard on the other. $55 I think. Good deal?

Which one do you have, and what's on each side? What do you prefer to be on your sides?

Thanks

[pritchettzoo]

We were just looking at easels at TRU tonight. There's a Crayola easel that is $39.99 that I think Beth (egoldber) recommended. It's got a white board on one side and a chalkboard on the other. The best feature about it is that it has a clip on each side to hold paper. So it's easy for 2 children to use the easel at a time (or have one masterpiece drying on one side while creating on the other).

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000899OB.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg

The downside is that it's ugly as sin. ;)

IKEA has a great easel that I tried my darndest to convince DH we needed to schlepp it back with us from Seattle when I was pregnant with Gracie. It's only $19.99, so with shipping, it's probably cheaper than the one at Costco: http://www.ikea-usa.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10101&storeId=12&langId=-1&productId=20916
http://www.ikea-usa.com/PIAimages/04048_PE076372_S3.jpg
http://www.ikea-usa.com/PIAimages/04760_PE074720_S3.jpg
Or maybe you have family/friends near an IKEA who could pick one up and ship it or bring it to you?

And OT, I love your new avatar! How are things going with you?

Anna

[cchavez]

I saw the one at Costco and I think it looks great! I was trying to convince myself to get it to use indoors but we already have a Step 2 plastic easel that I picked up at a garage sale for 5.00!! I think it is a great easel w/ 4 different writing areas and a flat/desk surface too. I think you can find it at Target. com for 50.00 or so.
We have ours out on the patio. hth

[MelissaTC]

My parents purchased the one from Lillian Vernon for Matthew's 2nd birthday. It is great. http://tinyurl.com/58cl4

I like it because it is sturdy, the shelves are adjustable and DS enjoys having the chalkboard. He likes to paint with water on the chalkboard side.

[egoldber]

Actually, I have the Little Tikes 2 sided easel. ;)

I like it because it is very sturdy and does not tip. Not so important for an older child, but a consideration for a younger one. It has the drawing side and the chalk side. DD likes the chalk side as much as she does the drawing side. She also likes to paint with water on the chalk side.

Also, our easel gets plenty wet, so I personally prefer a plastic one to a wooden one.

HTH,

[pritchettzoo]

Sorry to mis-guess quote you! :)

I didn't even think about the wet factor. Yuk--mouldy wood.

What age range would you put on the Little Tikes/Crayola type easel? I think the manufacturer's age range is 24 mos/3 years for those, but what about actual children?

Anna

[cimberdog]

We have the IKEA easel and we bought a role of paper (at IKEA) to string around until DS is old enough to use the dry erase and chalkboards without the fear of it being all over our walls, etc. So we just pull the paper around and he uses it to color with crayons. He loves it! It's well made and very inexpensive to purchase at $19.99.

[pamela mom of 3]

We've got one by step2...easel for two? ...
http://www.step2.com/index.cfm?stp2ssid=A336D94D-F08A-4B1C-98AFDB26E968B98E&action=details&category_id=1000&subcategory_id=1003&product_id=1179

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/15245.jpg

I like it 'cause it washes well and has clips on both sides...sooooo important if more than one child wants to draw/paint w/paper :P




~Pamela Mom to the Trio Of Trouble http://smilies.jeeptalk.org/otn/angels/newangel.gif


http://www.tickercentral.com/view/36o/1.png[/img][/url]

[egoldber]

We got it for DD at 18 months and she still uses it. Can't see her not using it anytime soon.

[cchavez]

I found it at Target.com

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_2/602-8863933-6710209?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B00000IZHG

[jasmine]

Hi,

We have the Costco one and we love it. The best feature is the plastic bins underneath for storing art supplies and other toys. The only drawback with it is it does not fold up. It is very solid and I would consider it more of a piece of furniture than just a toy :-). So if you don't have a lot of room, I would go with some other one (one of the plastic ones or the Ikea).

HTH,

Monica

[houseof3boys]

When they get crayon on the writing desk surface, can you just Magic Eraser it right off?

I like the one you got and what a score at a garage sale!!!!!

[cchavez]

:)