Product Description

This beautifully designed easel is part of the Little Tikes Natural Interiors collection of fine children's furniture. Crafted of solid hardwood with a natural finish, it's as durable as it is beautiful. Includes a blackboard on one side and a dry erase board on the other. A magnetic clip holds paper for sketching or painting (paper not included). Folds for storage. Measures approximately 28.50"L x 26"W x 43.75"H.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73308 in Toys & Games
• Brand: Little Tikes
• Model: 7318
• Released on: 2006-09-01
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 47.35" h x 5.65" w x 27.91" l, 36.60 pounds

Features

• Matches other Mission Design Furniture
• Made of durable hardwood with natural finish
• Includes blackboard on one side and dry erase board on the other
• Magnetic clip holds paper for sketching (paper not included)

From the Manufacturer
Beautifully designed art easel crafted of solid hardwood with a natural finish for durability. Includes a blackboard on one side and a dry erase board on the other. Magnetic clip holds paper for sketching or painting.

Customer Reviews

Absolutely fantastic easel!
This is an absolutely fantastic easel for young children. We've had ours for about three weeks now. My two year old loves it, and so do I.

This easel has a white board on one side, and a chalkboard on the other. The white board has a very clever magnetic strip and clip(invisible) on the top that allows you to easily change drawing or painting paper for your child. This easel does not support a roll of paper, but that is fine by me. Our previous easel did, and I hated using roll paper because the edges were so jagged and my toddler would rarely wait for me to finish tearing off the piece he'd used (which was usually messy when it was covered in paint) and sliding down more into position. The magnetic clip on this easel is very easy to use, making paper changes quick and easy and certainly less messy.

The trays on this easel do not detach, but they fit snuggly to the easel, making them easy to clean. Our previous easel had trays that didn't detach, but didn't fit snuggly either, and the paint just dripped down in between the tray and easel. The only slight hiccup with this easel is that the trays on both side are rounded. I can see this as potentially making larger paint jars a little unsteady. But this is still a phenomenal easel.

After mentioning its practical benefits, let me also add that this is a beautiful easel. It is a lovely natural hardwood - no metal brackets or plastic trays, etc. The hardware (screws, etc) are all cleverly hidden. There is a wide shelf on top of the easel that could hold plants, toys, etc. It is also a very large easel, and very steady. My son knocked over the old easel all the time, but this one he'd have a hard time knocking over.

After suffering with a cruddy easel for six months, I am thrilled to have this one in our home.

Words of advice! Break in your chalkboard before using it. With any new chalkboard, you should completely chalk the whole surface, and then gently rub the chalk in (and eventually off) with a felt chalkboard eraser. You should do this anytime you wash the board as well. Make sure you use only "chalkboard chalk". Sidewalk chalk, for example, can damage chalkboards. It has binding agents in the pigments that will stick to chalkboards. Also, crayola for example makes some drawing chalk that looks just like chalkboard chalk, but it is for paper or other mediums, not chalkboards.

Whiteboards - I find that the low-odor dry erase pens don't erase very well. My "regular" dry-erase pens do erase well, and they oddly enough will remove any stuck on low-odor ink. I'd invest in a bottle of whiteboard cleaner to remove any paint or other substances that get on your board, and always give it a clear water rinse after any use of a cleaner or paint.

Did I say it already? This is a fantastic easel!

A beautiful easel, but not very functional
I bought this easel because it was so highly reviewed here on Amazon, and I have been very disappointed with it. In fact, I've been so disappointed that I'm selling it and am planning to buy a different one.

Good aspects of the easel: It's gorgeous -- it's made of solid wood & it looks great. It's also a great height for a 2-3 year old. Also, though we didn't try the chalkboard, it's not plastic & I expect that it works quite well.

Bad aspects of the easel: The magnetic clip that is supposed to hold the paper does not work. It does not even hold one piece of paper. And since the top of the easel is squared off (see picture), I can't use clips or clothespins to hold the paper either. So I've been taping the paper up each time. As my son can fill a piece of paper in about 2 minutes, this is a major pain! Another big problem with the easel is that the trays are extremely shallow and rounded, so I can't imagine how they would hold a jar of paint. Last, some aspects of the easel did not seem to be good quality -- for one thing, the magnetic strip that is supposed to be stuck to the white board (part of the clip that's supposed to hold the paper) was glued on crooked & keeps falling off to boot. Also, it looks like one of the trays got chipped and then was filled in with wood filler & sanded down -- definitely noticeable, and I was surprised that Little Tikes had the gall to sell something obviously damaged as a new product.

The easel looks great, but since it won't hold paper without using tape, and since my son can't use it for painting, I really don't see the point of owning it. Next time I make a purchase of this sort I plan to do it in a physical store, rather than online, since I think I would have realized this easel wouldn't work well if I had been able to look it over in person. Also, the shipping cost of this item ($35) made it impractical to return, so I'm having to sell it used to someone local and therefore am not getting all of my money back.

My recommendation: Don't buy this overpriced, impractical easel -- instead, try to buy something in your local area that you can examine in person.

Costly but worth the extra money
We bought this easel for our daughter's 2nd birthday. She loves it and so do we. First of all, it's beautiful and compliments any room. There are some easels out there that you wouldn't want in your living room or den.
This easel is built to last. It will be with your family for years and years. It's safe and strong. It can not be tipped over by a child.
The side trays are nicely attached and will never fall off like they do on cheaper easels. It's also great because two children can use it at the same time.
The only thing that I can say about improving the item.. is to include some markers, chalk and an eraser. For the money, it should come with some supplies.
Yes, this easel is a little more expensive (especially when you have to pay for the shipping) but well worth it!!