Like a lot of Ikea items, this is a great bargain. At 15.99 it is a lot cheaper than many of the other children's easels you see around, and it is a good quality item made of durable wood and has been very long lasting for us.

We have had this item for about 3 years now and even used to keep it out in the garden (but under a roof so open to the wind and elements but not heavy rain) for about a year, due to not having much space in the home we were in at the time and it still looks as good as new, after a bit of a clean - it had not been damaged by the weather at all.

This easel has 2 sides - one is blackboard and one is a magnetic surface, which can be used for painting by attaching large peice of paper to it with a magnet or it can be used as a magnet board which is what we mainly use it for. It is a great surface for the children to play with all the magnet letters, numbers and other various magnets which we have, as it is a big surface and much more convenient than having them play with those things on the fridge or radiators. We currently have this open and set up all the time in the kids play room and it gets played with several times a day by both my 3 year old and 2 year old.

They have not been as interested in the chalk side but that gets played with now and again.

The easel is easy to fold for storage, although we have it up all the time but I have flattened it and opened it several times in the past with no problems, it is still quite large when flattened but becomes narrow so you can store it down any little gaps.

The only small complaint about this is that it has the tray area only on one side, so if you have it turned to the chalkboard side, then the tray is on the other side which is not too convenient as it would have better handier to have it available on both sides, to easily hold the chalks but I don't think this is a big issue and for the price can not complain!