Melissa & Doug Deluxe Standing Easel

I've been shopping around for my 2yo's first art easel, and this is by far the easiest to assemble, the most affordable, and the most space-conscious for my small apartment. my son loves creating a painting every afternoon. get the super saver shipping - it arrived within 3 days by UPS (I was expecting the horrid post office delivery notice), and i saved a TON!

This is a very nice sturdy easel and is fairly easy to assemble even for an essembly challenged person like myself. My 5 year old grandaughter was thrilled with it.

I bought 2 of these, one for my 2 year old, and one for her friend's birthday. My daughter LOVES it, and the lowest setting is perfect for her. I don't know if they changed the chalkboard, but we didn't have the problems others complained about. I must say I didn't even "season" the board, and it works perfectly ( I had some crayola chalk on hand, and she can draw without problems, and there are no visible scratches). Only thing that is a bit annoying are the colorful screws that hold the whole thing together - they are indeed a bit tempting for her (I have to tighten them every day :) but it's worth the trouble ).
The boards for one of the easels were damaged, but Melissa&Doug replaced them promptly so I can't complain about that.
It seems to be very sturdy, and I hope she'll enjoy it for years to come.

[[ASIN:B0002AUWKG Melissa & Doug Deluxe Standing Easel]
I just put together the easel for my three grandsons ages 4,6, and 8 years. I'm extremely pleased with the quality of this product, so much so that I'm ordering another one today. Some reviews mentioned the poor quality of the chalkboard, yet I believe those customers did not follow directions to first cover the board in chalk, then rub with a dry paper towel, then erase, then use. I did that and the chalk worked beautifully. I'm pleased with the Deluxe Easel Companion Set and 3 pack bundle of paper which I also ordered. A great product for the aspiring artists in your life...grandma will probably use it too!

The easel is great. It was easy enough to put together, and, like another reviewer, I did paint the chalkboard with chalkboard paint before assembly, as the chalkboard as delivered was some plasticy green surface that looked like it would scratch very easily. We are looking forward to many years of use from this easel!