DIY Cardboard Easel (A helpful guide with photos)
I can’t believe I’ve never tried this before, this simple low to no cost DIY cardboard easel is sure to impress. All you need is duct tape (or any strong tape) a cardboard box and a little time.
I am a huge fan of using recyclable materials in all our creative endeavours and this little project takes the humble unassuming cardboard box to the next level! This will be used time and time again, I promise.
I was excitedly chatting with my friend about our new cardboard easel, she also happens to be an awsome Occupational Therapist. Unbeknownst to me, she told me about the many benefits to painting and writing on a slanted surface including:
- Strengthening the wrist and hands.
- Promotes a tripod grasp (a grip that uses three fingers of the hand) which is important for writing.
- Helps to improve your child’s posture.
If you want to know more about the benefits take a look at this blog post I found, it’s fascinating.
Not only does your child get to express their creativity while painting and drawing at the easel they also get to improve their posture and strengthen their wrist and hands!
We will be using this DIY cardboard easel all the time, I know you will too.
What you will need to make your DIY cardboard easel.
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- Square cardboard box
- Scissors
- Box cutter (optional but handy to have)
How to create your DIY cardboard easel.
Step 1:
Open up your box fully and lay on a flat surface, use scissors or a box cutter to remove the side flaps of the box as shown here:
Step 2:
Cut along the middle of the box. Two children at home? no problem, one box makes two cardboard easels.
You should now have two hinged pieces which will become the easel.
Step 3:
Place a piece of duct tape at each corner of the easel (this will be where you attach the length of tape that acts as a tether for the easel, helping it to stand)
Step 4:
Next, cut one long piece of duct tape leaving a 5cm tail on both sides, then cut a slightly shorter piece of tape and place over the centre of the first piece sticky sides together. Fold over each end a few centimetres, this will make it easier to attach later.
Repeat this step so you have two lengths of tape, one for each side of the easel.
You should have something that looks like this:
Step 5
Attach the length of tape to each side of the cardboard easel like this: The sticky part at the end will attach to the front and back of the easel, you can easily attach and remove as often as you like.
You can use a bulldog clip, peg or simply tape some paper to the easel like we did.
There you have it, your fantastic DIY cardboard easel is now complete!
If you’re painting with a younger child it might be a good idea to prop a book behind the easel, this will make it a little more sturdy.
I hope you give this cardboard easel a try, let me know if you did. I love hearing from you.
Looking for more creative projects for your children? Use your new cardboard easel while creating this tape resist painting.
