Market Mondays: Art Drying Rack

Here is the first feature of Market Mondays, in which I pick a product that I have used in my classroom and offer up a review.  Today's product is geared toward any teacher that teaches art or uses paints or other things that need to be able to dry in their classroom.

This year, I was determined to get a drying rack so I no longer had to have papers strategically placed throughout the classroom to dry after the students used either paint or something other medium that could possibly smudge.  Plus, I can't stand having miscellaneous papers left on a student's desk unless it's being used. I like things to be very neat and organized, so when I got the Sax Stack-a-Rack Drying Rack for my classroom, I knew it would be perfect!  This awesome product can be found on Amazon or at the Learning Outlet for under $100.

In order to better assist you, I broke down the pros and cons of this product for a quick review:

PROS:

• 25 shelves
• stackable so you can buy more than one and stack them on top of each other
• Can be hung on the wall or put on wheels (I have my on wheels so I can move it about the classroom)
• The perfect size for art projects on paper 11x17 or smaller
• Doesn't take up a lot of room which is a huge plus when you have limited space in your classroom
• Only $85.49 on Learning Outlet and you get FREE SHIPPING!
• It came already assembled - all I had to do was throw the wheels on.

CONS:

• The shelves do not lift up. Sometimes it is hard to see what shelf you are using and if there is a smaller piece of paper already there.
• It only comes in red. This worked for me since my classroom I use bold primary colors. However, there are a lot of teachers who use softer pastels.  But upon further inspection, I believe you could easily spray paint this to match your color scheme.  

Despite those cons, I still award this product 4.5 out of 5 stars.  It would have received 5 stars in the shelves were able to flip up. But hey - for $86 this is one awesome product!!  

Next week's product: Really Good Stuff Chair Pockets