How to Build a Children's Wooden Easel

childrens easel

Here is a very simple home woodworking project plan for how to build an easel. With little more than a hinge and a few pieces of 1-inch lumber, you'll have a versatile and mobile children's wooden easel, ideal for a whiteboard, clipboard or canvas.

What you'll need

The carpentry plans, of course, begin with a list of materials. Gather straight, smooth pieces of finished, sanded 1-by-3 inch lumber. Cut to size and drill pilot holes in the wooden easel pieces as follows:

  • Two 4-foot pieces (the front legs) with holes in each piece at 2 inches and 24 inches.
  • One 3-foot piece (the back leg) with a hole at the 18 inches.
  • One 3-foot piece (the center support) with holes at 4, 8, 26 and 32 inches.
  • One two-foot piece (the bottom wooden easel edge for holding the canvas) with holes at 4, 12 and 20 inches.

Also buy a one-foot strip of 1x8 inch lumber, a sturdy T-hinge, a small box of 1 1/4-inch screws, and strong thin rope. Now you’re ready to build a children’s wooden easel.

The rest of the woodworking project plan is equally simple.

1. Screw the bottom wooden easel edge through the side holes to the center hole in each front leg.

2. Screw the wooden easel edge to the center support hole 26 inches from the top.

3. Attach the center support through the two top holes to the block of 1x8 lumber. Also attach the legs through their top holes, making sure the angles are equal.

4. Screw the long end of the hinge into the back leg, with the hinge slightly off the end of the wood. Screw the short end of the hinge to the center of the bottom edge of the 1x8.

The final step in this woodworking project plan is to loop a string through the empty hole in the bottom of the center support, then loop the other end through the back leg at the desired angle. To dress up the children’s wooden easel, screw some containers on below the easel edge to hold crayons, paintbrushes and other art tools.

A couple of free bonus tips for this carpentry plan:

    • Pre-sand the lumber. It's easier than trying to wedge sandpaper into the joints of a wooden easel.

    • Likewise, pre-paint the wood if you want a colorful children’s wooden easel.

    • With careful measuring, you can adjust the carpentry plan to place the easel edge at various heights as your child grows taller.

You should be able to do this project yourself if you enjoy DIY, but for that professional touch, hire a qualified carpenter.

Author Steve Graham is a former construction manager and newspaper editor. He has written more than 2,000 articles for Web sites, magazines and newspapers.

Updated August 16, 2018.

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