Need help deciding if I should keep easel for dd

[JustMe]

So, I bought dd's Chanukah in a mad rush, and ended up with more than I needed. That's actually not like me, but it a way it is okay, since I really havent bought her toys in a while and she has out-developed most of her older toys. Plus, her birthday is in February, so if I needed to I could save until then....so, the thing is, what i have left is an easel. I bought it because there was a great deal on it, and she loves to paint. However, I am no re-thinking and am not sure it is a good idea

1) I dont have tons of space and I am not sure where we will keep it. I will definitely have to close it when she is not using it.

2) My house is completely carpeted, so I worry about the paint everywhere scenario, although I know we will only be using washable paints.


So, if your child has an easel do they and/or you love it, don't care about it, use it don't/don't use it. Do you think I should keep this thing or return it and get my $30 back?

TIA,
Robyn
single mommy to an almost 4 yr old from Guatemala

[ellies mom]

My DD loves her easel but we are able to keep it in the dining room. I keep chalk and coloured pencils for her to use whenever she wants and we limit painting to "supervised" times.

[egan284]

My dd loves painting and drawing on her easel. She's spent many hours in front of it, and her drawing skill improved significantly due to the practice. Of course, dd can easily does that on the table, I just like the ease of changing paper, no hassle at all, and that encourages dd to draw even more. Before we had easel, I bought her sketch books to draw in, but that's quite expensive about $8-$10 a pop. Paper is much cheaper, you can get it for $5 a roll (IKEA brand).

If you have a backyard/porch you can carry the easel and let your dd paint there. That's what I do when dd wants to paint. I carry her easel to our backyard and she can paint there and be as messy as she wants. Even though the paint we use is water soluble, it's a pain to clean up a stained carpet (believe me, I found it the hard way).

We also don't have a big space, but I really want dd to have an easel from the very beginning, so I make do with whatever space I have to accommodate it.

[mommyto4]

I'd keep it. It's something that she will be able to use for a long time and with get alot of enjoyment from it. Fold it up when not in use. A cheap shower curtain liner under it will help keep spills off of your carpet.

[kransden]

My dd loves hers. We use it with washable markers not paints!
Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[sdbc]

Our house is small, too, but we have the M&D easel and it is her #1 "toy". It is open all the time, with paper and with washable crayons. She colors on it whenever she wants, and does so at least 2x per day. In the past couple of months, she has also been given full-time access to colored pencils and she has washable markers, but she has to ask to have those. We do use it for paining occasionally, but probably only around once a month for that purpose. It is *so* worth having, but I'd say only if you could leave it open with crayons available.

DD's fine motor skill for drawing is very good, and I think it's because of the easel.

Sue, mommy to Aurora (Rory) born 5/13/04

[JustMe]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond.

Guess we'll be keeping it.

I haven't taken it out of the box yet, so I am not sure if I willl be able to leave it open or not (space-wise), but it sounds like it is worth making it work in some way.

Robyn
single mommy to an almost 4 yr old from Guatemala