Outdoor Easel

Back in the spring my husband made an amazing outdoor easel for the girls to use, and we’ve been using it for all kinds of activities ever since.

The easel has become a favorite spot in our outdoor play area, but I’ve been dragging my feet about sharing it with you.  You see…I don’t write tutorials well.  And when I try to photograph my husband working on a project things like this happen…

Lovey thought Daddy set her up a runway to practice singing and dancing (our next project?!?). Shortly after this photo was taken Tinker joined in, and well…let’s just say we were politely sent to play elsewhere.

So I don’t have a full tutorial to share with you, but I thought I would point out some of our favorite features of the easel my husband made.  I’d also be happy to answer any specific questions you have about ours, if you try to make this one on your own.

If you would like a full tutorial, I recently saw this one from Tried & True. Their easel is different from ours, but the tutorial includes all the specifics for you to make your own.

For this easel we used:

• 1- 36″ x 30″ clear acrylic sheet
• 3-4″ x 2″  8′ cedar (you could choose any wood you prefer)
• 1-1″ x 2″ x 8′ cedar
• 1-5/8″ x 8′ PVC Quarter Round
• Galvanized Nails
• Connecting Screws

The tray that he built at the bottom comes in very handy. The girls are able to place their paints, brushes, window markers, or whatever writing tool they are using in the tray. Tinker especially loves this because she does not like grass in her paint…we’ve learned that the hard way.

My husband also left the posts that go into the ground long and adjustable so that we could raise the height of the easel as the kids get taller.  Smart guy, right!?!

Some days we paint directly on the Plexiglass and then spray it off with the hose. When we do this I add a little dish soap to the paint to make it a bit easier to wash off.

Other days we tape paper to the easel and make creations that we want to keep. We also use our window markers and spray bottles to create on the easel.

As the girls get older and we keep score for backyard games, we can keep track right on the easel, too.

What other activities and artwork would you create on an outdoor easel? I’d love to have some new ideas to try as the weather gets cooler again this fall.

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