You can develop your kids artistic capabilities

with the Melissa and Doug Deluxe Standing Easel. This easel will help develop your child's creative side and encourage them create with an extra-large chalkboard, dry-erase board, and easy-load paper roller. Your children will be delighted by free-form expression and will spend many hours drawing and painting. It is also an great educational toy and children like playing school with the chalkboard side. This work station is ideal for kids ages 4 through 10 and has a variable height to accommodate the little ones as they grow.
Fuller details of the easel and its options here...

Here are some users comments

I bought this easel for my preschooler and I love the adjustable height and durability of it. It is so easy to use.. My only small complaint was the chalkboard.
Though I followed the instructions carefully, I found that the good chalk scratched the board and did not write very well. Melissa and Doug did reply immediately to my concern and were willing to do whatever necessary to correct the problem. On a whim, I decided to try some chalkboard paint instead. It now writes beautifully, and I love the black chalkboard, rather than the green it came as. It is perfect.

Here's a short video of the easel in use



A major complaint from several users and a recommended solution

Several parents have been writing in to Melissa and Doug complaining that they can't write on the chalkboard of the standing easel. The company answered that the board needed sanded or primed. However before going to this trouble, 2 readers discovered 2 simple answer. One is to prime the chalkboard by lightly covering it with chalk dust.

If this is still not suitable then cover the board with black chalkboard paint. This is the simplest long-lasting solution. There is no way parents should be using power machines to sand down the surface.









The easel in use. Kids can splash to their hearts content
Click the image for the keenest prices

Parent writes in:

We bought this for our five year old, and it has made art projects much more enjoyable for him. Melissa & Doug make a variety of very traditional children's products and their easel is perfect. It wasn't too hard to put it together (30 minutes), it is sturdy and has nice features. The ability to use a paper roll (paper not included) and to easily tear off pictures is very nice. The one complaint we have is that Amazon charges over twenty dollars for standard shipping. If you take a few minutes to look around on line, you can find the same easel and have it shipped for about a third the cost. In summary, the easel is worth every penney, but you should try to avoid over paying on the shipping.