December Guidecraft Educators Review/Giveaway: Desk to Easel Art Cart

Each month, the Guidecraft Educators will share our honest feelings
about a Guidecraft product(s) and how these products would fare in an
early childhood classroom. This month's selection comes from Guidecraft's Art Equipment line - Desk to Easel Art Cart.

I was very excited to see the Desk to Easel Art Cart when I arrived home from work in early November!  My classroom art center needed some sprucing up and this seemed to do just the trick!

This versatile unit can be positioned as an upright, angled easel or a folded-down, flat workspace. Features easy-to-clean laminate surfaces, with a write-on/wipe-off surface and paper roll on one side and a chalkboard on the opposite side. Plenty of storage space including four fabric bins, paper cubbies, and a paint/glue bottle area allows young artists to stay organized while working. Includes an 18" x 100' paper roll, five paint cups, and side clips for displaying artwork. Adult assembly required. Each fabric bin measures 9"W x 9"D x 5"H. Ages 3+. 22.5"W x 26"D x 42"H with easel fully assembled. 24" flat desk height. 

While the assembled unit is very sturdy, I, personally, found the it very difficult and clumsy to put together.  At times it required three sets of hands to maneuver the pieces into the correct position.  I also found it necessary to "lock" the cart into the easel workspace, as I feared that the curious little fingers in my room would be too inquiring and get pinched.  However, the lock can easily be undone and will make for a great crafting table for other projects at different points throughout the year (it will make for an awesome beading table)!

However, none of these factors has limited the children's interest in the art cart - it quickly became the favorite area in the room (despite the fact that we have had an easel/painting area ALL year long, I can count on one hand the number of children that showed an interest until last week)!  We had to have a waiting list of children waiting to use the "new paint area" and could not help the children clear up their artwork fast enough for the next!  No one has had much of an interest yet in the chalkboard side of the art cart, but I'm sure that time is coming - the children love their chalkboard table in the house area and it's only a matter of time until they really discover that there's now a second chalkboard for their use! 

As you can see, we've moved added an extra set of portable tabletop easels to the table so that extra painters can be at work!

The storage bins on the bottom will come in handy for storing an assortment of paint-related supplies and materials that will help them be easily accessible to the children.  Overall, I think the art cart is a great piece of equipment, once you get past the minor frustration of putting it together!

So... what do other 'Guidecraft Educators' have to say about the Desk to Easel Art Cart???

Maureen at Simply Stacie
Andrea at MommyPR
Deborah at Teach Preschool
Carrie from Huppie Mama
Jody from Mommy Moment
Candace at Mamanista!
Lisa from Planet Weidknecht
Vanessa from Pre-K Pages

The Giveaway

Guidecraft is generously offering ONE lucky reader of the Guidecraft Educators a chance to win one of these Desk to Easel Art Carts!!! To enter, comment on this post, sharing one of your favorite paint-related projects to explore with preschool aged children!

You have until Wednesday, December 12 @ 11:59PM eastern time to enter.  Be sure to leave an email address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Or... if you just can't wait to win one and NEED them now, they can be purchased online at: 

Guidecraft.com or Amazon.com

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If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com. I am an Amazon Affiliate, so any purchases you make after clicking these images will result in my receiving a small percentage of the sale price!