Getting the tiniest members of your family ready for back to school often doesn’t mean getting ready to go anywhere. Not ready for big boy or girl school, your littlest one still wants to learn. So, I’m going to be reviewing some of my favorite learning toys from time to time, starting with The Deluxe Adjustable Standing Easel by Melissa and Doug.

Painting or drawing with an easel is something even the smallest toddlers enjoy and is can be used by different children for different reasons. Those tactile ones will just use it as a big finger painting board while your child with the highly developed fine motor skills will whip out a complete drawing.

I particularly like this easel because it comes included with colorful clips that can be used to anchor paper of different sizes to the easel. Other easels feature a roll of paper but personally I find having to cut paper off the roll each time a child has finished a picture a hassle.

It also has a fairly large paint holder, big enough to hold individual pots of paint or a strip of water colors. And it’s deep so the pot of water for brush washing and the requisite rag, for clean-ups of brushes and children, won’t fall out.

Because it’s sturdy, adjustable and fairly plain, you can keep this easel for a long time. Elementary age children love to paint at easel, but rarely have the chance since their toddler toys are too often tossed.