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Being an occupational therapist, art easels for kids are a popular recommendation. But why? Not only do they provide a place for kids to be creative, and explore all sorts of messy art mediums like chalk, paint, markers, and crayons, there is something really special about the design of an easel that helps promote certain developmental skills.

When kids write or draw making large movements on a tall vertical, flat surface, they are building strength in their shoulders. Even better, when using a surface like this and simultaneously holding a brush, marker or crayon, it’s just a natural phenomenon to extend your wrist. When you extend your wrist your fingers tend to want to come together.

Holding a pencil with the thumb, index and middle finger is called a dynamic tripod grasp pattern. This mature, fingertip grasp pattern allows children to color, write and draw for long periods of time without fatiguing, because the very small muscles in the hand have developed correctly. For kids that have an awkward grip on the pencil, we recommend writing and drawing on easels to develop this more refined  grasp pattern.

Now that homework season is right around the corner, some kids often have a hard time paying attention when sitting at the table. Not only are easels great for arts and crafts activities, consider them an additional homework space for the child who may prefer to stand to get the work done.

The Step2 All Around Easel for Two is made of durable plastic and can be put together in 15 minutes with some simple screws. It includes a magnetic white board, chalk board and 76 different magnetic foam shapes, letters and numbers. Both surfaces are very easily cleaned. It has removable trays to store markers, crayons and other craft mediums, and a clip to hold paper. All other crayons, markers and papers are sold separately. At $39.99, this is a perfect gift for young toddlers and preschool aged children.

Additional Back to School Posts:

Crayola Crayon/Marker Recommendations by Age

Helpful Homework Tips

Step2 provided this easel free to facilitate this review. The opinions are my own.