The Rose Smart Easel comes from the stables of Rose Art Company, a well-known name in kids’ art supplies. Made of lightweight, sturdy metal, this easel is great for traveling and taking along on a park ride. Designed with portability in mind this easel is easy to put together and better yet easy to take down and has a carrying and storage bag to take with you wherever you go.
This inexpensive and durable easel comes with a dry erase board on one side and a roll of art paper 50 feet long and eight markers that are non-toxic and washable. This product is recommended for kids older than 4 years of age. I would personally recommend it for older kids who are more into painting and drawing. For younger kids the magnetic easels would be a better choice.
This easel includes a small plastic tray at the bottom of the dry erase board, which is perfect to hold small paint jars, wet brushes, glue or glitter. Two flaps are attached to the sides of the easel, featuring mesh pockets and holsters to hold all the art material that your kid would need. It is also placed in such a way that everything the kid needs is in reach and this definitely encourages tidiness. A large under-tray, made from fabric, serves as a catch-all for finished artwork.
Kids love the way the paper roll attaches conveniently at the top of the easel that lets them roll out more paper for the next masterpiece. The entire easel (except frame) is made of washable materials. In case the easel gets dirty or paint is spilled, the fabric parts can be detached and can be thrown in the washing machine while the plastic parts can be wiped with a damp cloth.
Now for some concerns or downside to this easel:
1. The dry erase board comes in two separate pieces. This makes the drawing or painting process in the middle quite impossible. But the kids don’t seem to mind, so it’s not really an issue.
2. Most of kids’ easels in the market follow a standard paper dimension of 18- inch or so. But this easel has a 17-inch setup and finding replacement paper rolls become a chore. Not many online stores carry this dimension and finding one becomes extremely frustrating.
3. The assembly instructions are presented graphically with no text accompanying the pictures. The pictures themselves are not quite intuitive. It took me sometime to figure all out and assemble. But the process was quick and easy.
4. The pouch beneath the easel is a lot shallower than the pictures in online stores would indicate. So not many of the kids’ drawings can go in there. Again not a major issue, you can use some other container to hold them.
Overall, this inexpensive and durable easel with its easy-to-clean, lightweight and portable design can be a good starting easel for the kids.