Hellobee Boards

I'm also on the fence! Wondering whether to go with a standard easel like the Melissa and Doug one or to look for a tabletop easel similar to the one above.

If your kids have the standard easel - does it get much use? Is it worth it?

We have a table top one and I'm not sure if I'm sold on it but I don't have a floor love to compare to. It definitely slides around a lot, I put a silicon placentae under it to help. I feel like painting with it means I potentially have to clean paint off of the table, chair, easel and floor as opposed to easel and floor/splat mat. It is really nice to be able to put it away though or out of reach when it's covered in paint. We have the discovery kids one. I'm not sure if that's helpful information or not though!

We have a stand alone one (step 2, I think? It was a gift. When we lived in a 1000 sq foot condo with one kid and another on the way... ) it does fold up and fit under a bed though.

Now that we are in a house we have it out in the corner of the famil room with crayons and t gets a fair amount of use. I haven't let her use paint on it yet because I don't trust her.

My feeling is, she can already sit at a table and color or paint flat on the table top. So the easel and standing at it is a nice change of pace. But I would get one that can fold flat when you rotate it out.