- Just like adults, kids need a dedicated place where they can tackle important tasks like using Play-Doh, solving puzzles, having a snack, and doing homework.
- The MUtable All-In-One Children’s Play Table is the best kids’ table because its many inserts and accessories make it perfect for playtime, mealtime, and all other times.
Who ever said sitting at the kids’ table had to be viewed in a pejorative sense? In fact, maybe it’s time to shift the whole paradigm and start seeing kids’ tables as the place to be. After all, you enjoy sitting at your nice big adult table while you eat, work, or read the paper, right?
When your kids have a size- and design-appropriate table where they can work on an art project, enjoy a meal, complete a homework assignment, or just hang out with siblings or friends, they will make the best use of their time and will enjoy activities much more than they would while perched on a booster seat or relegated to the floor.
Today we’re talking about tables that can genuinely be used as tables. You won’t find water tables or sand tables here, in other words, but rather solid, reliable pieces of furniture that are suitable for years of use during meals, for everyday art and play sessions, and for elementary school homework, too.
Whether you’re looking for a table that will perch in the corner of a playroom or bedroom or one that will be on prominent display in highly trafficked areas of your home, you’ll surely find a suitable choice on this list. There are kids’ tables from across the price spectrum and even a great outdoor option.
Keep in mind that, if your household is anything like mine, there may well be more than one diminutive table in your future. While at first putting multiple kids’ tables in multiple rooms in the house might sound like it will clutter the place up, actually I’ve found the opposite can be true. When you dedicate one piece of furniture as the go-to place for art and another the selected snack spot, for example, you actually minimize the mess and keep stuff where it belongs.
Here are the best kids' tables you can buy:
- Best kids' table overall: MUtable All-In-One Children's Play Table
- Best outdoor kids' table: Step2 Naturally Playful Kids' Picnic Table
- Best kids' dining table: KidKraft Farmhouse Table and Chair Set
- Best folding kids' table: Lifetime Kids' Folding Table
- Best low-cost kids' table: Tot Tutors Kids' Plastic Table and Chairs
Prices and links are current as of 4/02/2020.
The best kids' table overall
The MUtable All-In-One Children's Play Table grows with your kids, adapting to suit not only their changing size, but also their changing interests.
Italian design firm Mukako's unique MUtable All-In-One Children's Play Table isn't a table at all, really: It's four tables in one. This durable, handsome table can be adjusted to four different height settings, ranging from 17.7 inches off the ground - an elevation perfect for toddlers - all the way to 23 inches high - perfect for kids well into their elementary school years. The chairs are also adjustable, for the record.
In its most basic configuration, the MUtable is simple a sturdy three-legged table with a solid top that's perfect for eating, art, and other things that get messy, as the smooth surface wipes clean easily. But that smooth cover can be removed and replaced with four different double-sided game board inserts, which feature cutouts that accommodate puzzles, a surface designed to work with Lego bricks, and both blackboard and whiteboard surfaces. So it's almost eight tables in one, from another perspective, what with the eight surfaces the inserts create.
Perhaps best of all, the middle of the table can be opened completely revealing a hole into which kids can slide toys, art materials, and other items when playtime is done. Don't worry, they fall into a waiting collection bag for easy out of the way storage.
Pros: Grows and adapts with kids, sturdy wooden construction, available in multiple colors
Cons: Quite expensive
The best outdoor kids' table
The Step2 Naturally Playful Kids Picnic Table is durable enough for regular rough use by kids and constant exposure to the elements.
We got a Step2 Naturally Playful Kids Picnic Table when our son was about 16 months old, and the thing sat outside for the next two years, enduring rain, sun, cold, heat, acorn impacts, bird messes, and all the rest of it, yet every time I'd spray it off with a hose and give a wipe down with paper towels and cleaning solution, the table looked as good as new.
Made from durable molded plastic and rated to support 300 pounds in total, this table is nothing if not tough. Which is good, because kids tend to be less than gentle with their things.
The bench seats a large enough for three small kids on a side but are ideal when used by two children at once, and the surface of the table offers enough room for snacking or shared play activities. And when the sun is out, the included umbrella blocks an impressive 97.5% of the sunshine's UVA and UVB rays.
Pros: Reliably resists damage, minimal assembly required, sun umbrella included
Cons: Textured surface requires extra time for cleaning
The best kids' dining table
The KidKraft Farmhouse Table and Chairs look like furniture an adult would be happy to use themselves, only the set happens to be kid-sized.
With the KidKraft Farmhouse Table and its matching four chairs set up for a holiday dinner, the kids won't feel like they're being demoted when they are sent to their own little seats away from the grownups. This handsome furniture has a pecan veneer that looks like genuine hardwood, and the table and chairs have simple, crisp lines that will complement many different interior designs.
And of course, the Farmhouse table need not be relegated to holiday meal usage but can be an everyday spot for snacks or meals. At just under four square feet, the tabletop is a good size for play projects as well as eating, offering plenty of room for a kid to spread out a puzzle, art materials, and more.
Just note that lovely as that pecan veneer looks, it does scratch rather easily, so tell the kids to be careful and/or be ready for it to show some wear and tear on the sooner side.
Pros: Styled to match full-size furniture, five-piece set, chairs can support adult weight
Cons: Surfaces scratch easily
The best folding kids' table
The Lifetime Kids Folding Table is there when you need it, ready for meals, arts and crafts, homework, and more. And when not needed, it's under the bed, in the closet, or on a garage shelf.
Let's not pretend the Lifetime Kids Folding Table is the most elegant piece of furniture ever created. Instead, let's accept it for what it is, which is a high-density polyethylene tabletop supported by four tubular powder-coated steel legs that lock securely in place during use. When folded flat, the table measures just a few inches deep, and the 24-by-24-inch square can be tucked away just about anywhere.
And speaking of anywhere, you can let the kids use the Lifetime Kids Folding Table just about anywhere and for anything, including outdoors and for messy projects. Its plastic components are UV-protected and easy to wipe clean, while the metal legs and locking mechanisms are rust-resistant.
If you're willing to forgo style for performance, go ahead and get this table. It will be the best forty bucks you've spent in a long time.
Pros: Folds down flat for storage, durable construction, great low price
Cons: Not very stylish
The best low-cost kids' table
The Tot Tutors Kids Plastic Table and Chair Set is easy to assemble, easy to clean, and easy to afford.
If you're looking for forever furniture for your home, you're probably going to want to look beyond the Tot Tutors Kids Plastic Table and Chairs. That's partially true because while the vibrant chairs may appeal to kids, most adults will find the mismatched, colorful chairs a bit less charming.
And it's largely true because this low-cost kids furniture simply wasn't built to last forever. Something is going to break eventually here, but before that happens, the kids should get a few good years out of this set.
The Tot Tutors Kids Plastic Table and Chairs are easy to assemble, using a snap together system that an adult can easily handle. Once assembled, the furniture is lightweight enough to be moved from place to place without effort, so you can let the kids use the table for an outdoor tea party and for indoor play or snacks.
It comes in multiple different color varieties, including a white table, a yellow table, and two shades of blue table. All four chairs are always of different colors no matter which table color you choose.
Pros: Very affordable price, available in multiple colors, easy to assemble
Cons: Lightweight and easily jostled
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