Starting Art Young
Choosing A Childs Easel
A Childs Easel can start your kids on a lifetime's enjoyment of a wonderful hobby.
Maybe even their future career!
There's quite a selection, depending on their age - and even ones for several kids at once because, usually, they all want to draw and paint at the same time.
How many of you have bought a home computer because your kids use one in the class? You know what kids are like! Once one starts something, they all want a go. Especially the adult kids...
Yet I bet they do as much art and craft work in their lessons on the sort of easels that we'll look at here as they do with the latest technology offerings...
On easels that cost a tiny fraction of the latest offerings from Microsoft, HP, Dell and all the rest...
Yet these rather more traditional pieces of kids' entertainment can provide years of creative possibilities, every bit as important as them learning to trade on E-Bay or download music and ringtones!
If you're looking to buy a childs easel, here are some of the things you should consider before pressing the 'confirm payment' button...
- Do I want a table or floor-standing version?
- Is it solidly built and reasonably child-proof stable?
- Can it be easily folded down and packed away?
- Often a childs easel construction lends itself to a double-sided easel with different surfaces, eg erasable whiteboard, chalkboard or magnetic board. Which do I want?
- Can it grow with them, via adjustable legs?
- Can it accommodate paint pots so they don't spill?
- What about a tray for brushes, pencils and so on?
- Can it easily be wiped clean?
- Can the working angle be adjusted?
- Some childs easels have a facility to hold a drawing paper roll. Do I want this?
- If so, does it have a safety paper-cutter incorporated?
- And all joking apart about the adults taking over, if you want to work with your children, is your childs easel going to be big enough to let you both work together on it?
- If this is an issue, maybe a purpose built art table is a better bet.
- If so, the storage issues assume more importance. Could it become a dual-purpose activity table, say in a bedroom?
To give you some idea of what's available, have a look at these illustrations. Prices vary from around $35 to $175, so there's something there for most budgets.
It's not an exhaustive list, but it should help you get a better idea of what features are best for you and your kids, before you buy your first childs easel.
And don't overlook the full-size versions! Kids grow up so fast these days that, depending on their age and size, a fully adjustable adult's easel or art table may be a better long term bet.
For more information on these, click on the link at the foot
of this page to take you back to the Main Easels Section and
look at the other easels articles...
Adjustable Childs Desk Easel. Features a paper roll holder and
paper cutter, with a marker board surface. Around $43.
