The Melissa and Doug Deluxe Easel is the perfect easel for new (and young) artists. The height of the easel is perfect for a variety of ages. The easel can be used to paint or use crayons, with chalk and even with dry erase markers or dry erase crayons. The plastic material containers hold paints and other necessary art supplies at an easy to reach level. We also love how the paper is able to be stored and unrolled from the center of the easel. It is easy to replace when necessary. The bright primary colors are great for children. The easel is very sturdy while standing and can even be folded and stored flat when necessary. We leave the easel out all the time for art everyday! The Melissa and Doug Easel Accessory Set is a perfect addition to the easel. Assembly of this product was easy. All items were clearly marked in the box. This easel will grow with our children. I can't recommend it enough!

gillac

USA

I actually received this easel in a "previously used" condition and it is still serving us well - and holds up well to the roughness of a toddler boy. Pros - two seperate sides for different activities (chalk vs. dry erase markers), ability to hold a roll of paper that can be pulled down on one side so children can paint or draw, built well and sturdy, and the trays to hold supplies on each side are quite useful. Cons - a bit pricey and when you roll down the paper from the top roller, it has to be taped or something to keep it from rolling back up....also, not really a bad thing but a nice idea might be if this easel had adjustable height options

ltupper

Raleigh, NC

My kid got from "santa" and loves it. It's durable, attractive, and easy to assemble. There are little pots for paint and a place for paint brushes, so that painting is easy. There's a paper cutter feature that allows you to use a large roll of art paper and not have to keep reusing pieces of paper. There are both a chalkboard side and a whiteboard side. Assembly was pretty simple. It comes with clips to attach artwork to the top so that it can dry if necessary. The easel is tall, so that it can grow with the kids. We expect our kids to use this for at least five years before they outgrow it size/height wise. Great well made toy. Highly recommend.

pogmorel

USA

We got our daughter the Melissa and Doug Deluxe Floor-Standing Wooden Art Easel as a reward for doing very well in her dance classes. She has hinted at wanting one of these for a while now, but we held off due to the amount of space they take up. That being said we should have gotten one sooner. She spends hours every day just creating different pictures using different mediums. We have yet to venture into chalk, due to the clean up factor. Maybe when it gets nicer outside we can take the entire unit outside and do more. I like that it folds up if we ever need to put it away if we have guests come over. If you are looking to solve the issue of the paint trays we just left the screws a little loose and clean up is a breeze. You can also get any brand of paper for it since it will fit all brand sizes. It is also the perfect hight for my three year old and should allow for a couple years of growth.

stephyb2329

Pierre, SD

This is a great set by melissa and doug. For those that do not know, melissa and doug is one of the largest names as far as children's products go. they have a reputation for quality products at decent prices. this easel from melissa and doug fits the bill on those criteria points as this is affordable and a solid product as well. the easel is very easy to assemble and i would not knock this product due to its assembly. it is also a very versatile product as you can use it for crayon use or you can put up a blank canvas or bulletin paper so that your kids can draw with markers. because there are two sides the bulletin can serve two children at the same time, making this a fantastic buy since there is no down time. so even if you have more than 1 child, 1 easel is probably enough (unless you have a very large home). there are nice little trays on both sides of the melissa and doug easel, allowing your kids to store their tools with the easel and using it later when they return to the easel.

cpolozi

Los Angeles, CA

Our family LOVES our Melissa and Doug Deluxe Wooden Easel. We have three children ages 5, 3 and 3 and they all love this easel. It is sturdy and well made. There is a dry erase board on one side and a chalkboard on the other. Each side has a tray for art supplies, one with cup holders that could be used for paints. There is a spool for a large roll of paper in the middle and it can be pulled over the sides to use for painting or other drawing. There are 4 sturdy clips that come with it and sometime our kids enjoy using a regular coloring book but clipping them up on the easel to color. I found this product easy to clean with a little water when needed, however the dry erase marker does not of course come off the wood, but the board itself is easily cleaned. We use this easel for many different activites both as a family playing games, for homeschooling and for creating art projects. I believe we will be using this easel for years to come!

theblairjrs

Kansas City, MO

Another great product from Melissa & Doug!!! The easel was very easy to assemble - I am pretty bad with manuals but it took me less than 15 minutes to put it together. It collapses for convinient storage although we have never put it away since the kids love it. It is nice that it can be adjusted in 3 different heights. I alos like the colorful knobs but they are also attractive to the kids who like screwing them off and then end up losing them all over the house. The paint and other supplies trays are nice and pretty sturdy. It is great that it comes with dry erase AND blackboard. I was a little disappointed to discover that the dry erase board was not magnetic. That would probably the only real downside of this easel. Other than that it was definitely a great buy and I would gladly recommend it to people. As a matter of fact I have recommended it to a few friends with small kids and they seem to be pretty happy with theirs as well.

kairograff

New York, NY

My MIL bought this for my 20 month old son. He asbolutley loves this! It was easy to out together, wipes clean and is the perfect size for him. You do have to prep the chalkboard by rubbing it with chalk before you use it. I also recomemnd buying the M&D brushes and paint containers with lids. You do need to watch that your child does not unscrew the parts on there, I have caught my son a few times taking the nuts off. the best gift my son has gotten so far!

abbysam310

Richmond, VA

This is a great easel that will provide your child with many hours of creativity. We did have an issue assembling as we were missing a piece but the customer service was awesome and we had the piece very qucikly after calling without an issue. I love that it has the chalkboard and the dry erase board. My kids love both sides. It is nice that you can use both and still store the paper for painting at the top. I do agree with others that it would be nice if the trays came off easier in order to clean it, but not a huge deal. It also would be nice if magnetic like other easels so that you could play with the magnetic letters and such, but you can do that on the refigerator. Melissa and doug makes nice dry erase markers that do not have the bad smell that other markers have. I also had gotten the little paint cups to go with it which makes the paint a bit more contained because of the way the lids go on them. Overall, this is a well made nice easel that matches the quaility of other Melissa and Doug toys that I have purchased.

kherban

Spotswood, NJ

Our 2 year old daughter received this as a Christmas gift (per our request), and it has been used daily ever since! We currently have it set on the lowest setting and works perfectly for her height, but it has plenty of room to grow with her. It was fairly easy to assemble, although it did really require two people. It seems to be of good quality, but there are a few things I wish were different: *I wish the trays were more easily removable for cleaning. I've just been letting paint accumulate in the tray because I'm not unscrewing it or going through the hassle of cleaning it while it's attached. This could just be me being lazy ;) *I wish some part of it were magnetic. Call me crazy, but I miss the days of magnetic blackboards and/or whiteboards. Overall, I think this is a good value for the quality. I looked at a few others that were just as expensive or more expensive and didn't have the features this one does (like the paper roller attached) or just seemed to be of a lesser quality. My daughter loves it, and that's the most important thing!

freedak

Bumpass, VA