Painting for Kids, Toddler Art

6 Fun Ways to Use a Children’s Easel

March 8, 2024

Here are some tips on how to encourage interest in your children’s easel. Try varying how and where you use it, and what materials you use with it.

Updated March 2024

A children’s easel can be a wonderful art space for kids, especially as it allows young children to stand and use a full range of motion while they create.

However, you may want to shake things up a bit in order to keep the interest alive in an easel. If you leave an easel in one place with the same art materials all the time your children might start ignoring it.

We are all for dedicated art spaces but dedicated does not mean static. We’ve tried many new ideas with our children’s easel and are happy to say that changing things up really works!

A note about materials: you don’t need anything too fancy for an easel. We really like the Little Partners one, as well as the less expensive IKEA version. But you can also fashion your own using cardboard!

Ideas to Use a Children’s Easel

child at an easel outside — Photo by Rachel Withers

1. Try a new location

We find the best way to renew interest in our easel is to move it to a new spot in the house. Or better yet, move it outside! All of a sudden, it’s like a whole new art experience for kids.

collage ideas for kids featured — Photo by Jean Van’t Hul

2. Collage at the easel

Leave out an invitation to collage for your kids at the easel and see what they come up with. Set up the easel with collage materials like glue or glue sticks and construction paper shapes and we guarantee your kids will get right to it.

Here are lots of collage art ideas for kids.

painting with water on a chalkboard — Photo by Jean Van’t Hul

3. Paint with water

Set up the chalkboard side of the easel with a cup of water and a paintbrush for water painting. Our kids love this! They paint over the entire chalkboard surface, use a cloth to dry it off, and then paint with water again.

You can also make your own chalk paint!

watercolors at the easel — Photo by Rachel Withers

4. Try a new art material on the easel.

Setting out a new art material on the easel is another easy way to encourage interest. Your kids will have a blast exploring the new materials at the tried-and-true easel.

Some new materials you could try include:

painting at an easel — Photo by Jean Van’t Hul

5. Paint at the children’s easel!

This is what easels are for, right? And your kids will absolutely love painting on it.

6. Try drip painting!

Drip painting is an easy and fun action art activity for kids. Explore gravity in art by dripping paint onto the easel paper. The results are unique and lovely!