Editorial Review

Just like any great artist, your little one should be preparedfor that moment when creative inspiration arrives. Featuring a largechalkboard on one side and a blank pad of paper on the other, thisDouble Easel will ensure that your pintsize Van Gogh can capture amoment of inspiration before it passes. The Double Easel is made ofdurable plastic and comes with wide trays on both sides for storing artsupplies (not included), as well as a large piece of chalk and aneraser (included). A large plastic clamp on one side of the easel holdsdown a 50-sheet pad of paper (included), and the two storage trays areremovable for easy cleanup. Designed for use by one or two children ata time, the Double Easel folds together for compact storage. Measures43.5 inches tall. --Chris Burns ... Read more

Reviews (34)

A fun toy
Everyone knows that easels are a great toy for children, they encourage creativity and give them a reason to turn off the tv... My son has this easel, and it is really nice, I just wish that when they constructed it they would have bothered to put holes in the wide trays so when water or paint is spilled in them, it can drain out. As it is, I have to invert the entire easel to drain the trays. (Yes, this is an outdoor toy.) The only other major drawback to this easel is that the pad of paper that is provided is quickly used up, and I don't know where to find replacement pads. My son (who is a young 4) loves to draw on the plastic chalkboard side with his sidewalk chalks, and enjoys painting when I can find paper to use with it. Assembly was not as easy as we'd hoped, my husband is a real Mr. Fix-it and this gave him a little trouble. It was also missing a small part. BUT all these things aside, I would reccomend this to a friend, and I think your child would have fun with it also.

Most durable one out there - like new after 4 children!
This is just a great toy. Ours has gone through 4 children, 3 of them boys, and it's still like new. Little Tikes makes things that last forever and this is no exception. The trays snap off for easy cleanup, but stay on when needed by children. It's just so much fun for them to be able to draw on one side and paint on the other at the same time. We buy the finger paint sets and use the paper that is included in them and also, they make extra paper sets sold separately that provides the slippery side needed for finger painting. I love how easily this easel cleans up and requires very little maintenance. A great buy for a lot of fun!

Disappointment
How can you review something that is missing parts and you can't use? After trying to pick out the perfect easel for our grandson who just turned 3 - we picked this one because of the reviews it received. You cannot imagine how upset we were the evening before we were to travel to Richmond to give it to him, already put together when we were missing major parts. Too late to call the store to correct the mistake and we are leaving very early in the morning before the stores will be open again. You would think that when you purchase something that all the parts would be in place - especially something for a child. So, we head to Richmond tomorrow morning - with a new broken birthday present for our grandson. This is not acceptable - and will be last item I purchase from Little Tikes. I've called Little Tikes and left a message for them, but this won't fix the face that I will see in the morning when I tell him his birthday present isn't ready yet and he can't play with it. Come on people - if you have a job - at least do it right!

Great toy--even secondhand!!
I bought this easel used and it was still in perfect shape after being played with at a daycare. We are using it outdoors and plan to use it inside all winter. My 2 year-old loves to hide inbetween the easel for fun, paint, and use the chalkboard. I love the removeable trays. I do wish it was height-adjustable--or at least the paper clip was, but that's ok. We just use clothespins to pin 2 pieces of paper together to "lower" the paper.

BEWARE of chalkboard
I have brought home 4 different easels, and ALL of them have had broken chalkboards. As another review said, it is a very sharp plastic material and can be very dangerous for young children. I'm going back again today to see if I can find another one that is not broken. The manufacturer needs to be aware of this defect!!!! ... Read more

Teacher Review

With this well-designed, double-sided easel, preschoolers can enjoy the advantages of creative expression on an upright surface. The easel's frame is made from sturdy wood left in its natural state, with thick pressed board used as the bases for the art surfaces. One side of the easel has a 24-by-24-inch, green chalkboard, and the other side has a 24-by-24-inch, white dry-erase board.Two removable, washable trays are included to attach to the easel (one with molded spaces to hold paint jars and brushes). The easel requires simple assembly, but no tools are required and all bolts and plastic bolt covers are included. Some thoughtful design aspects include an adjustable height feature, a convenient, built-in paper towel holder, and two metal clips to attach paper for painting. Included in the set are some art supplies to get started: four large, no-spill paint jars, six small jars of poster paint, four paint brushes, a package of colored chalk, six dry-erase markers, a foam eraser. This set was a winner of the Dr. Toy Best Classic Toys Award, and it would be a winning addition to any playroom, family daycare home, or preschool. --Marcie Bovetz, mother and former children's librarian ... Read more

Features

• 48" tall
• Double-sided easel
• One side is a chalkboard, the other a dry-erase board
• Paint jars included

Reviews (9)

Great item, but a very pricey
I expected the item to arrive with more supplies and some paper for first time use. My husband and I both agree that the item is well made, durable and the kids love it. The price was just too high, at [$$$] for the item plus shipping, because the item was heavy,this was a [$$$] purchase. Assembly was easy enough, except that the holes on the chalkboard were a little off and it took brute force the line the holes up for the bolt. All in all if I could have returned it without paying another [$$$] I probably would have and spent my [$$$] on art supplies alone. I hope this easel will last through all my children, that way maybe I'll feel justified in the price I paid.

Very nice easel, but...
My sister purchased this item as a Christmas present for my 3 year old son. He was very excited while his dad was assembleing the easel, however he could not enjoy it right away because the 75 foot paper roll supposed to come with it was not included in the package. Another dissapointed fact was the blue poster color that my son accidentaly spotted the carpet did not come off easily and left parmanent stain on the carpet. We've tried every way to remove the stain (steam vac, detergent, etc.), but we could not get lid of it. I was very surprised the color was not water based considering it is a product for kids.

Worth every penny!
I purchased this easel for my four year old son. Not only am I pleased that it was so simple to assemble (on Christmas eve!) but it has become a great source of entertainment. The frame is sturdy and will last a long time in a busy house. The marker board wipes off easily and has not discolored at all. The trays help little hands to organize and use the chalk, paints and markers. It did not come with a roll of paper, but the paint jars, brushes, dry erase markers, chalk and eraser were included. Tiny paints were included but are used up quickly. I am highly pleased that I spent the extra money to buy this model.

a lemon
The easel arrived with two problems. One was that the tray had apparently broken in shipment. In part this was due to faulty packaging. However, upon breaking it apparently shatters into many sharp edged fragments.

The other problem, even more troubling, was that one of the legs had holes which were so improperly drilled that it was impossible to assemble.

I must say that Amazon.com was very prompt and courteous in their response to our complaint and quickly arranged for prepaid shipment back with refund.

Something missing
We purchased this item for Christmas for our 31/2year old and 61/2year old. They both loved the easel. It was missing, however, the paper roll that was supposed to come with it. That was very discouraging for our 31/2 year old as he wanted to paint right away. I am waiting for an answer via email about this problem. Some of the screw holes didn't line up properly so we had to really jam the bolts into the holes of the boards, doing a little bit of damage but not enough to go through the trouble of returning the easel. It looks great and the kids use it to play school etc... Hopefully the paper roll will turn up sometime soon. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Doesn't have to be just for easels...
Being a preschool teacher I use these all of the time. I have found that taking the sheets out individually clipping them to the easels clip to be the best way to work with them. Even if you don't have an easel these are wonderful for children of all ages. Large, unlined sheets of paper encourage children to be creative and to express themselves in a completely original way. For infants, toddlers, and preschoolers I will often tape the sheets to the table and let them color/paint/glue to their hearts delight.

Too Heavy
I bought this pad for my twins. They use it on their little tikes double easel. This pad is a little to heavy to stay underneath the clip. When they start drawing on it, it starts to slip down. However, easel pads are not easy to find in our area, so I will probably continue to buy these. They have lots of pages in each book and good quality paper for "little artists". ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Great for learning preschoolers!
All I must say is that these letters are soooo durable. The back of the letters are all magnetic where as the plastic ones only have a little piece of magnet to hold them to the refrigerator, so everytime the fridge closes one always seems to fall off, but NOT these they hold on and I really like that. The colors are very bright and they have helped my 2 year old learn her colors. I only wish they made more differnt colors than just 4. Another thing I love is that these come in upper case and lower case so you have more letters to make into words. They do cost more than the other ones but well worth it.

Every kid should have these
My kids have both kinds of magnets, these and the plastic letters with the little magnets in them. They love to play with all of them, but they get frustrated when the plastic ones just slide down the fridge, or when the magnets fall off. The plastic ones end up under the fridge; their thicker profile and poor magnets are a bad combination. This kind is MUCH better; they're lightweight and completely covered with magnetic material on the back. They don't fall apart and they stay put! Less frustration for the kids, less hassle for me: It's all good!

The best set of ABC magnets out there!
Like a lot of people, I grew up with those plastic alphabet letters on my fridge. So when my son was around 2 years old, I figured it was about time to get a set for our home. We were fortunate enough to get this set as a gift. I was truly impressed! This set is by far superior to any others I've seen on the market. They're large and colorful, and the entire back of the letter is a magnet. Not just one little square. They really stay put on the fridge! I also like that they're wood. Sure, bite marks would probably show up more on the wood than on plastic. But overall, I think the wood is far more sturdy and durable. All the letters come in a nice wood box with a sliding clear lid, making it easy to keep everything together. You really couldn't ask for more!

not pleased
My son got these when he was about 2. Right out of the box, some letters were de-magnatized. He enjoyed playing with them on the fridge for a while, but some of the affected letters were in his name - the first things kids usually spell. He has learned some of his letters, but I wish we had the old fashioned plastic letters.

CAN'T CLEAN THESE LETTERS IN WATER
The letters are large, the whole backside is magnetic, they are made of two pieces of wood stuck together. One piece is magnetic while the other has a piece of shiny paper stuck on it. Unfortunately, you can't wash them because the paper slowly detaches from the wood and they end up looking very ugly. I decided to remove the paper, and remained with the brown wood. If they were washable they would have been the best letters out there. My kid prefers the plastic letters because we get to clean them when they are dirty and still look attractive.
I am buying another set of letters and it won't be these ones. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This magnetic calendar is undated, so it can be reusedmonth after month, year after year. Use the month magnets to identify themonth, and then stick the magnetic numbers on the appropriate days ofthe week. Hinged panels fold out for hanging--the top half is acalendar, the bottom half is a blank white magnetic surface for storingmonth and year magnets and the colorfully illustrated "reminder"pieces. There's one for every occasion you can think of, so you'llnever miss an important date or activity--Test Day, Mother's Day,Canada Day, Kwanzaa, Go To Dentist, and so on. Consisting of 139pieces, the calendar measures 15.5 by 23 inches unfolded. --AlisonGolder ... Read more

Reviews (9)

We're still using it!
When my son was in kindergarten, my sister purchased this for him for his birthday. He took a lot of pleasure in it. He is now almost twelve and he still likes changing the dates and putting in the special magnets for the special days. This was a great gift. It doesn't make a lot of noise, or sparkle when you play it, but it is the one thing that we all still use after all these years. I'm thinking of purchasing another one to update our old one.

Great teaching tool
This is a magnetic, wooden perpetual calendar for children. The set comes with more than 120 magnets with which to create a customized, plan-ahead monthly calendar. The child who manages the calendar can affix the correct year, season and month and then can go on to show holidays, play dates, library book due dates, etc.

We use this calendar to teach time concepts to our young son. The calendar is colorful and engaging and conveys the meanings of the words year, season, month, week and day far better than any dictionary, book or video.

This is an effective teaching tool, and we were thrilled with the results. However, ours warped severely within three days of purchase. The manufacturer must have used green wood to make a particular batch of calendars. Be careful of shoddy workmanship. The product otherwise is good.

This Calendar Is Actually Fun!
Purchased this calendar for my 10 yr old son and he and his brothers fight over who is going to put the magnets on the calendar for the new month. There are great magnets for appointments, holidays, sports and parties. It also helps them learn about the seasons, months and various state and national holidays. I'm an adult and I enjoy it too!

Great calender, only a couple complaints
My 5yo son picked this calender to spend his birthday money on. It's a great calender. We love how there are not just event magnets but weather magnets. My only complaints are the

1) the grid boxes could be a little bigger. If you have a holiday, a birthday, & an event (or some other combo that would require 3 magnets) all on the same day the magnets cross over into the other day.

2) I really hope the company comes out with an optional pack of more magnets to buy separately. The calender only comes with one magnet for each sport (soccer, football, dance, etc) but when my son was in soccer he had soccer once a week. It'd be nice to have 4 or 5 soccer magnets to put on the calender at the begining of the month rather than moving the one soccer magnet every week. The optional pack could also include a couple more 'dining out' & 'movie' magnets, a 'school event' magnet, a 'family outing' and just 'outing' for hard to classify events. I also agree with the poster who said a 'start vacation' & 'stop vacaton' would be better than just one vacation magnet. Also a stay with sitter magnet would be great.

I'd still buy the calender again though. My son loves putting the magnets on & is learning the concept of time quickly with this visual aide.

Great for teaching young children to use a calendar
My recently turned 5 year old has begun asking about days, weeks, "how many days until X" type of questions. We are homeschooling so no other person or school had yet introduced the teaching of days, months, etc. to him. Seeing he was curious and ready to learn, I quickly purchased this calendar to use as a perpetual calendar to help teach him the concepts. He loves the calendar.

It is more fun than a paper calendar because it has the magnets with the activity notations on them. If you are looking for a consumable version you could just use paper and buy stickers. I prefer this magnetic version. It is more functional than a wooden perpetual calendar that uses blocks for the dates because it allows customization of activities, holidays and events that take place on that day.

I give the manufacturer credit for coming up with many creative ideas for the activities. There are Christian and Jewish religious holiday magnets. There are American federal holidays such as Veteran's Day and the big kid holidays like Halloween. There is one for Canada Day and one for Victoria Day. There is one for Cinqo De Mayo. There are activity holidays such as the popular sports for young kids, dance, soccer, martial arts, etc. There are school related magnets such as "school play", etc.

If you take the extras that don't apply to your family, you can customize them by writing on paper and gluing it on top of the magnets you don't think you'll ever use.

There are magnets for the years 2002 through 2007 and season and month magnets. It would not be a big deal to continue to use it beyond those years and simply omit the year magnet.

To make more room to select the magnets on the extra magnet board side, I took away all the magnets that we would never use for our family such as sports my child does not play. I also took away the future year magnets for fear of them being lost. I put them away for future use.

I hope in the future the manufacturer makes a supplemental kit for us to custom design our own magnets, perhaps by giving us loads of pre-printed stickers with a smaller number of magnets and allowing us to choose which apply to our family. This kit could also be used to replace any that may have become lost over time. Some blank stickers in the proper shape to fit the magnets could be for us to truly make unique magnets for our family. I'd like to have "vacation start" and "vacation end" rather than just one "vacation".

The cons: this is quite heavy so make sure you use the proper hanging hook and anchor it well. The pieces are choking size, so it must be hung high enough so children under age 3 cannot reach it (including guests and visitors). Placing it that high does not allow for eye-level viewing by a five-year old. I would have preferred the folding go in the reverse manner, that is, when not being hung it would fold inward so the magnets are protected inside it rather than having them on the outside because as it is moved, the magnets fall off. If it folded inward we could keep it folded up and open it to use it and then put it away again, if we didn't want to hang it on the wall. Another idea would be that I could hang it low for our family but when I have babies and toddlers visiting I could quickly put it away while they are visiting. Lastly, the size of the day-grid cubes for each day are too small to fit both the date magnet and 2 other activity or holiday magnets. I think it should have been designed slightly bigger so that 2 magnets easily fit on the grid.

Despite my complaints I am giving this a high rating. It is a one-of-a-kind product so there are presently no brand alternatives. Lights, Camera, Interaction makes high quality durable and educational products and this one fits that bill. The good things about this calendar outweigh my complaints! ... Read more

Teacher Review

With this well-designed, double-sided easel, preschoolers can enjoy theadvantages of creative expression on an upright surface. The easel's frame ismade from sturdy wood left in its natural state, with thick pressed board usedas the bases for the art surfaces. One side of the easel has a 24-by-24-inch,green chalkboard, and the other side has a 24-by-24-inch, white dry-erase board.Two removable, washable trays are included to attach to the easel (one withmolded spaces to hold paint jars and brushes). The easel requires simpleassembly, but no tools are required and all bolts and plastic bolt covers areincluded. Some thoughtful design aspects include an adjustable height feature, aconvenient, built-in paper roll dispenser (with paper), and two metal clips to attach paper forpainting. This set was a winner of the Dr. Toy Best Classic ToysAward, and it would be a winning addition to any playroom, family daycare home,or preschool. --Marcie Bovetz, mother and former children's librarian ... Read more

Reviews (4)

"Let's Play School"
We've had easels in our home for many years. First, with our 4 children, and now, we're replacing for grandchildren. The girls enjoy drawing pretty pictures for my fridge. Now that they are in school, that is ALL they want to play. IT'S MARVELOUS! As the school age children play, repeating their math questions and spelling words, the younger children ARE LISTENING and LEARNING.
I whole heartedly recommend this easel for ANYONE with children in the home. It is very beneficial to their learning...

we like it
My father bought this easel for my daughter's 5th birthday. It was easy to but together and works really well with a child who loves to draw,color,& paint. We only wish that it came with a roll of paper.

Highly Recommended!
I bought this easel for my then 2 year old daughter. It was surprisingly easy to put together..even with her helping me. It is very sturdy and looks like it will last for a long time. The paper roll is very handy. And the trays give a nice large area to store chalk/eraser/paints/etc. The easel has 2 heights, so it will grow with her. I highly recommend spending the little extra on this easel...you wont be disappointed!

Fun but frustrating
We purchased this toy as a Christmas present for our kids and didn't put it together until Christmas morning. The rod to hold the paper in the middle is too long so we have to tear pieces of paper to fit the easel for them to color on. This was one of the reasons that we chose this over other easels and it doesn't work. Also, the dry erase marker board doesn't clean off very well. I use them often at work and this board is by far the hardest to clean off of any of them I've used. The kids love it, other than trying to clean it off and have a great time playing school with it. As far as the enjoyment the kids will get out of it, I think it is great! I just wish for the price that it worked a little better. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Lots of fun....
I bought this for my 2-year-old and he likes it a lot (I keep the markers in a safe place, though....markers and 2-year-olds are a dangerous combination). I especially like the reverse side of the workspace; you can put paper over it and lightly rub the crayon to see images come through. I like it as much as he does. I think it will be used for a long time.

The only thing I don't like is the price....I got it on clearance. I don't think it's worth the full price. ... Read more

Features

• Artist's easel folds open for art projects on the desk or tabletop
• Paint pad on one side, chalkboard on the other
• Attached trays hold paints and chalks
• Four cup holders in paint tray help prevent spills
• Folds closed for convenient storage

Reviews (2)

Well worth it!
I bought two of these for my 2- and 4-year-old boys. It's one of the few toys used daily. Saved me alot of wall scrubbing.

WOW - What a great Idea!
I cant believe how convenient this toy is - my son loves to draw pictures and play with magnets on both sides of this board. I told the pre-school teacher about it and she bought three for her classroom! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

great for art class
I bought this for my daughter to use in her 1st grade art class 2x/week. We are very happy with this product. It is easy to slip into and out of. It is durable and protects her clothes from the paint. The sleeves have elastic around the cuff which stops her shirt from slipping out.

apron
I didnt care for this item to much, the sleeves were to tight, and they are plastic, which made it very uncomfortable for my 7 year old to wear. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Keeps kids busy!
This is a great toy. My 4-year-old loves it. The first day he had it, he played with it for over 2 hours straight! There are watercolors, markers, colored pencils - enough to keep their imagination going. This was a great buy.

Barely made it out of the box
I had high hopes for this toy. My daughter fancies herself as an artist, so I thought this would be great. I WAS WRONG! This toy is very flimsy. The pieces fell apart almost immediately. It is definitely not worth the money. It never stood upright as an easel. I was very disappointed.

not worth your time
not loaded with supplies, broke after the first day, plastic very flimsy

Crayola makes me wish I was a kid again.
One thing about reviewing products is the great time I have trying them out. Crayola is the first name in fun for kids and the tabletop art easel is a perfect item for kids to use anytime. Crayola Art Easel is one product that has both my kids sitting and creating for hours.

The easel fits on any tabletop and can travel is you have a big enough car or mini-van. It comes with a handy carry handle that allows the kids to feel more grown up. The assembly was very easy and all directions are right on the box.

The kit includes markers, colored pencils, crayons, watercolors and paper. Also there are slide out trays to hold each items and storage is very easy, as is the cleanup. One thing I was impressed with was the inclusion of non-slip feet make the easel stay in place.

While your child is creating and becoming the next Picasso there is a tray in the front of the easel to hold the items as they work. The snap on clip that comes with the easel makes a great addition to kit, as paper will not slide around while they draw or paint.

This is by far and away one of the best activity kits my kids have used. Check out Crayola's website for hundreds of other items. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Lite Brite has certainly evolved since its introduction in 1968. This Illumin-Art Easel version still offers the traditional pegboard and pegs to create cool illuminated pictures and designs. However, the Lite Brite screen is now more than twice the size of the original and packs new technological advances, such as six different modes of animation for pictures and the ability to flash lights behind creations. The screen flips over and becomes a light-up easel where kids can trace and color pictures to adapt to peg designs. The set includes the easel and stand, a removable peg/drawing insert, 500 pegs, six markers, four light bulbs, and a tray for holding pegs and markers, Additionally, this Transformers-themed pack features eight Transformer design sheets, an activity book, and a sticker sheet for focusing on designs of these action figures. This Lite Brite runs on six "D" batteries and requires some adult assembly. --Cristina Vaamonde ... Read more